A Flawed Fragility
by TheLadyHoll
Summary: After Nate left, Andy realizes the hollow feeling in her heart isn't due to his departure from her life but the not quite divorced woman whom Andy is realizing she's head over Choos in love with. After a terrifying assault & the equally terrifying knowledge that a new baby is on the way, Miranda finds herself weakened enough to admit to the same rogue desires; to herself & to Andy.
1. Chapter 1

Fragility was such such an interesting concept. The things that one would conceive as the most fragile, such as glass and ice and porcelain, were ambiguously items and substances that could cause cutting and lethal injury once broken in any way.

Another thing those words had in common other than their shared danger and fragility was that each and every one could accurately describe Miranda Priestly. Once hurt or provoked, the editor in chief of Runway magazine could wound fatally with a disturbing lack of force or effort on her part. Anyone who dared touch her in any way inevitably came away bloodied, feeling as though they had been cleanly cut from stem to stern.

The whole thing was rather funny, because no one who interacted with Miranda Priestly would think of the word fragile to describe her unless they were speaking unequivocally about her temper.

But she was. Miranda Priestly was more infinitely soft and fragile than any would ever know, Andrea Sachs thought to herself as she proofread the next article she was due to submit to her editor at the Mirror newspaper where she now worked after leaving Miranda in Paris 5 months earlier. Fragile, frigid, flawless…

_This is the only way to make the story work - with this little into spiel, I mean. Next chapter will prove much more wordy I promise! And to all those waiting for updates on my other stories, they ARE coming I promise! Especially for SVU, once the new season starts I'm expecting the inspiration will hit and hit hard. _

_Let me know what you think! xo_


	2. Chapter 2: Ravaged

Removing her glasses and setting them down on the table, Miranda Priestly stretched tiredly as she leaned back in her chair after putting the final touches and last of her notes on The Book. It hadn't been the most horrendous issue she'd ever pre-edited, but it certainly wasn't the best and it had still taken her until quarter past twelve to finish. Sighing, she rolled her neck on her shoulders, grimacing at the cracks and pops she heard that to her, sounded like the ticking clock of old age as it set into her forty-seven year old bones.

Before she had time to switch the lamp off beside the arm chair she'd been sitting in, the door bell rang. Peering through the small glass hole she saw that it was Stephen, the latest addition to her unfortunately growing collection of ex-husbands. But with Stephen, the only unfortunate thing about him being an ex-husband was that the title meant that at some point she had been foolish enough to make him one in the first place.

With a sigh she opened the door and fixed him with her signature raised eyebrow, pursing her lips as she took in his slightly bedraggled appearance, attributing it to the rain that had recently started to come down in bullets from the pitch black sky.

"Yes, Stephen? What is it that you want?"

"I just want to talk, Mir," he stepped inside out of the rain without invitation and held out his hands beseechingly.

"It's past midnight and I might remind you that you lost your rights to living here when you took that tawdry blonde nymphet into your bed."

"God, Mir, what have I told you? It didn't mean anything! Dammit, I'm the one who agreed to try and make things worse after I said I wanted a divorce while you were in Paris. I did that for you. And now I make one mistake and you throw me out without a dime or a second chance?"

"If I gave you a dime or a dollar, Stephen, it would no doubt be slipped into the bedazzled polyester g-string of another hooker…Stephen, just get out. The girls are here tonight and you'll wake them with your insane ramblings – which I'm sure I don't want to hear any more of."

"You fucking bitch," he spat as he advanced towards her, his 6 foot frame towering over her petite one, and Miranda suddenly noticed the strong smell of gin coming from her former husband, and the way he was swaying slightly on his feet as he gazed at her coldly through drink reddened eyes.

"If you weren't so goddamn frigid, I wouldn't have to look elsewhere for entertainment. The papers have got you exactly right, and I'm sure they'd like to know that for all your fucking superiority and style, you can't even warm up enough to satisfy the current man in your bed. It's ironic isn't it Mir? A frigid bitch often means a hotter screw. Are you even capable of that?"

"Get out!" Miranda hissed, her own eyes narrowed into slits now, partly from anger and partly from fear as Stephen staggered even closer towards her and grabbed her wrists before she even had a chance to move. He shoved her roughly against the wall and pressed his mouth into hers, scraping her lips with his teeth before roughly biting her lower lip until he drew blood.

"You're nothing but a two-bit whore in nice clothes. So now I think you're gonna show me just how good a whore you can be. After all, isn't that how you became so high and mighty? Screwing everyone and everything until you got your way?"

He kicked her feet out from under her so that she fell to the floor without the use of her wrists to break her fall as Stephen still held them roughly in his own.

Wrenching herself out of his grasp, she tried to crawl over towards the bathroom, hoping she could make it there in time to lock the door.

"Oh no you don't Priestly. You lock yourself in there, what's going to happen to the precious little bastards you spawned from your first marriage?"

Trembling from head to foot, Miranda let her hand fall from the brass knob, keenly feeling the wrist she knew he had sprained when he pinned her arms behind her head.

"That's right," Stephen continued, in a horribly snide tone. "You treat the world as if it's yours to screw. Shall I do that to you now, Miranda? Shall I remind you that no matter how many husbands you go through or how powerful you are, that you're still my whore?"

He yanked her roughly to her feet once more, ignoring her cry of pain even as she bit her lip to muffle it, not wanting Caroline and Cassidy to hear the commotion from upstairs and come down.

"No, no, no, you'll scream for me Miranda - just as you never screamed in our marriage bed." He slapped her across the face, the fat gold ring on his left hand that now screamed of the mockery of their marriage tearing at her cheek, leaving a series of bloody gashes in its wake as he slapped her again.

Frustrated now that she refused to scream or beg him to stop, he threw her down again, smirking in satisfaction as he heard a dull crack as her body smacked against the marble and she cried out with the impact.

She tried to raise herself again, this time managing to push herself up from the floor until she was on all fours. Eyes blurred from tears and pain, she never saw the Gucci-tasseled loafer swing backwards before it connected with her ribs as he kicked her. Once in the chest and once at the side of her face.

The final lash of his foot caused her neck to snap back violently and her head smacked against the cold marble floor, knocking her unconscious.

Stephen stood still for a moment, breathing heavily as he looked down at the unconscious woman. With the horror of sobriety creeping back at the edges of his mind, he panicked, grabbing a crystal vase and her wallet out of her purse before he ran from the house.

His current girlfriend would give him an alibi, as would his business partner unless he wanted the details of some shady dealings passed over to the IRS.

Whatever Miranda said when she woke up, he'd say that it was a concussion or something. Yeah…that's what he'd do.

"You think he's gone?" Caroline whispered, huddled against her sister as they sat behind the locked double doors to their room, listening.

"Yeah, I think so," Cassidy replied. She looked nervously at her sister, "Car, d'you think we should've called 911 or something?"

"I don't know," her twin replied, identical blue eyes staring back at her with the same worry. "I mean, we didn't hear WHAT they were saying, only that they were shouting. You don't think he'd hurt her do you?"

"Who can we call?"

"I-I don't know. We've only had the new nanny for a week and Gina's on holiday," Cassidy thought out loud, referencing the housekeeper and nanny as the other two people who they were around on a regular basis.

"Andy!" Cassidy's eyes lit up as she reached for her backpack where her cell phone was.

"But she doesn't even work for mom anymore, remember? The Paris Week fiasco 5 months ago?"

"I still think she cared the most about mom, and the other way around too. Don't you remember how angry she was after she left? She went through 5 assistants in TWO WEEKS! Even for her that's a record."

But the phone was already dialed, and with the press of a button, Andy's world changed.

_Review loves! Give me some motivation to type out the 10 written pages I have lying around...because so far I haven't found any. xo_


	3. Chapter 3: Ebbtide

**_A/N: Please read:_**

_Alright. I'm feeling in SERIOUS need of venting at the moment, and I apologize in advance._

_I am absolutely used to flames, very much so, and for the most part they don't tend to raise my ire (which I assure you is every bit as formidable as our Miranda's. HOWEVER, when you attempt to criticize, I do ask that you proceed to do so with a bit of class, not merely lumping me in with a few misspelled words, with what this reviewer referred to as, the 'shitty authors'. _

_No, not even calling me a shitty writer is what is making me mad currently. It is the fact that in the same post, this person implied that I am so overwhelmingly desperate for reviews and sensationalism that I resorted to an inappropriately violent, good for only shock value theme. _

_I hate to break it to this person, but the idea of domestic violence did NOT happen to spring from my pretty little head. It's very real, it is very serious, and I do not take the act, or the description of it, lightly. It is real, it happens, and I'm not going to apologize for bringing it to people's minds. I do not need to justify myself by pointing out that I'm a longtime member of The Joyful Heart Foundation and have participated in some hard campaigning work for said cause. But the thought of me using people's pain to garner anything other than true and thoughtful emotion from my readers is vile. I have used it as a tool to describe and inform; that power and wealth does not exempt someone from abuse, and that even the most 'untouchable' people are people, flesh and blood beings._

_Call me a shitty author. But do not dismiss the graphic reality of domestic violence or insinuate that it is a subject I take lightly use for my own gain._

_THAT'S all._

Andy groaned as she flailed around for her phone on the nightstand, her face still buried in her pillow. "She was a lowly journalist now for fucks sake. Who the hell would be calling her at this time of night? It was nearly two in the morning."

"Three, nine, seven…who?" She looked through bleary eyes at the number coming up on caller-id and immediately all traces of sleep were gone. Miranda's twins? Why in the hell would they be calling her?

She quickly pressed talk and held the phone to her ear. "Caroline? Cassidy?" she asked cautiously, waiting for the snide childish voices that had tormented her in the past and that she had learned to dread months ago.

But instead two very small, very scared voices came over the line. "Andy? Andy is that you?"

"Girls, what's wrong? Why are you calling me?" Andy flipped over to lie on her back, an arm over her eyes to shield them from the light of the bedside lamp she'd turned on in her flailing attempts to grab her phone a few moments earlier.

The concerned, caring tone was all it took for the two eleven year olds to fall apart completely.

"Andy it's…it's mom. We heard yelling downstairs and then there were crashes and the door slammed. I think he's gone now but I don't know for sure. We can't hear anything now!" the voice Andy took to be Cassidy's grew higher pitched and more hysterical.

"Shh, slow down, slow down. WHO was yelling? Who's there?"

"Stephen…"

The girls heard Andy's swift intake of breath over the phone and smiled at each other, forgetting their panic for a moment. They knew she hadn't liked the man any more than they had.

Andy closed her eyes for a moment, wanting so badly to rush over to Miranda's townhouse to make sure everything was okay – but at the same time hesitant to interfere in her former boss' personal life if what the girls were describing really only was a simple fight. Miranda would NOT take kindly to being interrupted during a lover's quarrel. Especially if said interruptee was a former second assistant who had left her in the middle of fashion week in Paris.

Even more so was the fact that it had been 5 months since that incident and her consequent change of jobs and she was STILL irrationally in love with the woman she had left so abruptly. That had been the reason behind her leaving Runway more than anything else. Whatever she had had with Nate was long over, and there had never been anything with Christian. What there had been was the heartbreaking prospect of forever lingering in the shadow of the woman she loved. Always on the outside, and as it seemed, always failing her in some way or the other.

"Okay, okay, I'll be there in 15 or less, okay girls? I want you to stay in your rooms until I get there unless you hear from your mom, alright? But if you hear him come back or he tries to get in your room you call 911 immediately."

"Kay Andy, hurry please!"

The soft sound of Caroline's sobbing in the background, spurred Andy into action before she had ended the call. And by the time she'd hung up, Andy was already pulling a sweatshirt over her tank top and seconds after was calling a cab as she locked the door to her apartment.

Unbeknownst to Miranda, Andy had had a copy of the townhouse key made. It wasn't difficult, Miranda was so feared that Andy doubted any other assistant would have ever had the nerve to do so, no matter how reverently they worshipped at the altar of Miranda.

It was all she had of her former editor now, and she clung to it like a lucky talisman. However she didn't end up needing the key after all, the door to Miranda's townhouse had been left slightly ajar.

Using two fingers at the base of the doorknob so as not to disturb any fingerprints, Andy pushed the door open slowly with one hand, ready to face Miranda's wrath if the girls had been mistaken and she was about to walk in on a lover's quarrel or something.

"Miranda?" Andy called softly into the dimly lit foyer, assuming that if nothing was wrong Miranda would still be awake given the soft yellow light that had shone through the windows as she'd approached the house.

Walking through the front hallway, past the many flowered tables and closets that had proved so troublesome the first time she ever delivered The Book, she realized this might be the second time she walked in on a private argument between Miranda and her soon to be ex.

Her breath caught in her throat and her footsteps quickened across the tile as she saw a glimpse of snowy white hair against the deep auburn of the hardwood at the entrance to her study.

"Miranda!" the editor in chief of Runway lay in a crumpled heap at the end of the hallway, her leg twisted awkwardly underneath her and her face deathly pale but for the angry bruising that was beginning to swell across her purpling cheek underneath a nasty gash.

Andrea dropped to her knees beside the prostrate woman and she gently felt for a pulse, wincing in sympathy as she felt the painfully swollen joint of the woman's wrist.

Upon hearing her name, Miranda's eyes fluttered open slightly and she whimpered, flinching away from the contact before giving a low moan, presumably at the pain that sharp movement had caused.

Her eyes flew open, glassy and unfocused, but they closed again in what looked strangely like relief as they met Andrea's own warm, brown eyed gaze.

"Andrea," the word was breathed on a sigh before the older woman slipped back into unconsciousness, "My Andrea…"Andrea's heart surged painfully as heard Miranda speak her name again on a sigh, a semblance of a smile playing across her mottled features.

"Shh, you're alright, Miranda. I'm right here, I'll take care of you," she couldn't help her self from whispering as she bent down and pressed her lips to a patch of unmarked skin on the battered woman's forehead.

Rising from her knees, Andrea pulled a sinfully soft grey blanket from the arm of the couch and spread it over Miranda to keep her warm if she likely went into shock before dialing 911 as she took the stairs two at a time to go and check on the girls.

"Caroline, Cassidy?" Not familiar with the second floor of the townhouse, save for her one unfortunate encounter with the delivery of The Book, Andrea called out for the girls, not knowing which door was theirs. She knocked lightly on a set of double doors which were immediately thrown open as two identical redheaded whirlwinds threw themselves at her.

"Andy!"

"Andy!"

Dropping to her knees once more, Andrea folded them both into her arms in a tight embrace and pressed her lips to each auburn head in turn; grateful for the fact that the girls seemed to like and trust her now.

"Shh, it's alright, it's alright," she soothed them in the same tone she had used downstairs on their mother. She pulled back slightly so that she could meet their eyes, "Your mom's been hurt, but she's going to be okay," she soothed again, hoping with every part of her being that her words would prove to be true.

"The ambulance is going to be here any minute. Can you get dressed real quick and then show them in the front door?"

"Where's mom, Andy?"

"She's downstairs, I think she hit her head so I didn't want to move her myself in case anything was wrong with her neck or back."

The distant wail of a siren could now be heard, and andy pushed the two girls gently towards their room to get ready while she herself dashed into Miranda's suite of rooms to throw some 'stuff', she thought to herself wryly, into an overnight bag. No matter how incapacitated, Miranda Priestly would not put up with the standard issue hospital gowns once she regained consciousness. Andy wouldn't put it past her to wake from a coma if she sensed one near her person.

She didn't want the girls to see their mother like this so she sent them to the front door once they'd packed to wait for the paramedics and let them in.

Andy knelt down once more next to the woman she had secretly loved for almost a year now, stroking her hair away from her face.

"Don't leave," Miranda breathed as she went in and out of consciousness. "Don't leave me again, Andrea…"

"I'm not going anywhere, Miranda. I'm not leaving you, I promise."

"My girls…"

"Are fine, they're showing the paramedics in."

"Andrea," Miranda's voice hardened slightly but Andrea didn't cower as she might have 6 months ago.

"I'm not risking your health, Miranda. Don't ask that of me…" she smiled sadly to herself. "I would do almost anything for you, but please…don't ask me to risk your life. You can blacklist me across North America if you want, there's nothing I can do to stop you from doing that – I. Don't. Care," she enunciated firmly, trying to keep the threatening tears at bay.

She didn't have time to analyze how or why she was pouring her heart out to a woman who presumably hated her, but new voices at the front door told her the paramedics had arrived.

Unfortunately, the girls had taken them to where Andy had said Miranda was, and in doing so, saw the still, lifeless looking form of their mother.

"Mommy!" The girls rushed forward when they saw the prone, broken figure.

Andy cursed herself inwardly for not thinking that the girls would try and get back here to see Miranda, but once more Miranda's soft voice broke through her self rebuking reverie.

"It's alright Bobbsey's…Mommy will be fine, darlings. Andrea's taking very good care of me."

The paramedic's were now checking Miranda's pulse, and carefully feeling her joints for evidence of sprains and breaks before they moved her to the stretcher. It was a sign of just how badly she was hurting that Miranda allowed the strange men to touch her and press at her waist to feel for fractured vertebra.

A blinding flash of possessive anger coursed through Andrea's veins as they touched her Miranda, but she shook her head to clear her mind of the preposterous suggestion it had just conjured. She had no claim on Miranda and never would except for in her fantasies. She would do well to remember that once Miranda regained enough consciousness to send her away.

"Moving her in 3," Andrea vaguely registered the voices of the paramedics in the background as they prepared to lift Miranda onto the stretcher once they'd decided there were no spinal injuries.

As the lifted her, Andrea wanted to cry out with Miranda as she saw the woman's already ashen face pale further as she tried to silently endure the agony of being moved.

Knowing exactly who their patient was, the paramedics didn't say a word as 3 extra people came on board the ambulance. Miranda was still going in and out of consciousness and the girls' tear-streaked faces were sombre and scared as they rode in silence. Andy longed to join them with tears of her own, but she knew she couldn't break down just yet.

Once they had arrived at the emergency doors, Andy had to try even harder to choke back her tears as she had to let go of Miranda's hand and they wheeled her away.

Still holding the girls tightly as they clung to her sides, Andrea turned to look at one of the nurses who had met them at the doors.

"I want updates every half hour," Andrea barked out in her best Miranda impression, a skill she hadn't yet lost from her time at Runway. But her harsh tone couldn't quite disguise the watery quaver in her voice, and it was that quaver more than anything else that caused the nurse to nod understandingly and promise to do so.

Despite the fact that it was just before two in the morning, the hospital administrator showed up twenty minutes later, bleary eyes but fully dressed and aware of the situation. He quickly offered the trio the use of his private office instead of the waiting room, and once he had closed the door behind them, Andrea went at him with her barrage of questions.

"Please, Please Dr. Avery, just tell me what's wrong with Miranda. How badly is she hurt?" she strained to keep her voice at a whisper instead of the shout she would have preferred.

"I presume you're a friend and not an employee of Elias-Clarke, young lady? Any information I give out on Miranda Priestly is strictly confidential."

"No, I'm not an employee anymore. The girls called me at home so I came over."

The girls in question had immediately conked out on the leather couch in the corner of the hospital administrators office, and were practically indistinguishable in a tangle of gangly arms and legs and red hair.

The doctor nodded thoughtfully, "Alright. She has a very slight concussion, severe bruising and hematoma. Her right wrist is sprained, left just bruised. Possible fracture of 2 ribs on her right side and multiple lacerations on her face, legs and torso."

Andy shuddered, a tear leaking from her tightly shut eyes as she tried to block out the image of Miranda being beaten and thrown to the floor. She could only image the editor's slender frame being tossed aside like a rag doll by a drunk Stephen, his large hands bruising her dainty wrists.

"Will you be staying with her while she's in hospital? If you are I'll need to add your name to the list for security to keep as a record."

"Yes," Andy made a split second decision, not caring if she ended up camping out on the waiting room chairs for the next 48 hours. "I'm not leaving her again," she added to herself softly as she walked back over to the couch and lowered herself to the floor beside the girls.

Dr. Avery had made a decision as well, and he followed her to where she sat.

"We don't know yet if the fetus…the baby made it." There was nothing on file to indicate we shouldn't run x-rays once she was admitted."

"Baby?"

The doctor eyed her carefully again, "You understand I will not be taking the fall if this information is leaked by anyone outside of my staff Miss…"

"Sachs, Andy Sachs."

"It's likely Miranda herself wasn't aware of the pregnancy yet. At six weeks, the heartbeat isn't often detectable yet anyway…but a transvaginal ultrasound proved that she is, indeed, six weeks along."

"Pregnant, Miranda's pregnant…" Andy murmured to herself, the added information pulsing in her already overloaded mind. "That sonofafuckingbitch!"

At her raised voice, the girls stirred and Andy quickly lowered it again.

"But you said there WAS a heartbeat?"

"Yes, absolutely, it's very early stages though. She also received a blow to the stomach and abdominal area that might cause problems later on with the swelling. From the imprint pattern, it appears she was kicked while on her hands and knees, multiple times."

This time Andy wasn't able to hold back a choked sob at the images the doctor's description induced.

"We have a monitor on her right now however that will alert us to any uterine contractions that might lead to miscarriage. It's the best way to keep an eye on the pregnancy without resorting to more invasive ultrasounds like the one she had earlier."

The man sighed and rubbed a tired hand over his eyes. "Even without the assault, Miranda would already be classified as a high-risk pregnancy because of her age and medical history. She had a hard time with the girls and the birth was hard on her, even ten years ago when she was considered an older mother."

Seeing the young woman's stricken expression, Dr. Avery squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Andy supposed the gesture was meant to be comforting, but she was so beyond needing simple comfort that she barely registered the man's voice assuring her that they were doing everything they could, both for Miranda and to minimize the press, until he left the room and was replaced by the girls' nanny.

Hugging the two girls fiercely to her, Andy promised them she would text the moment she knew anything, and Anna, that was the new nanny's name, said she would bring the girls back after school to see their mother before they left to spend the weekend with their father as planned.

She didn't however tell them about the baby, that was Miranda's news to share, if it turned out there was anything left to share after Stephen's butchery of the woman he had promised to love and cherish.

"I'm so proud of you girls," Andy whispered as she hugged them goodbye, reassuring them once again that she would let them know what was happening as soon as she was able. "And I know your mom will be too. No matter what, you did good. Now shoo," her voice cracked as she pushed them gently towards the door with a trembling smile, managing to lift a hand in farewell before she sank down on the vacated couch and let the horror of the last few hours sink in, the emotions she hadn't had time to deal with earlier coursing through her veins with the ebb of adrenaline, burying her head in her hands as she sobbed, trying to cope with the myriad of emotions and thoughts she'd had to push aside in the heat of the moment until she knew the girls and Miranda were safe.

_As always, let me know if you're interested in hearing more ( not out of desperation, you understand, simply a desire to see what effect my words are having as proof of any writing skills). xo_


	4. Chapter 4: Realities

_THANK YOU!_

_I am so grateful for the veritable outpouring of support in response to the last chapter and unfortunate rant. I'm truly honoured to have the privilege to write for you and to receive verification from you directly that let me know that what I've written has provided some small measure of happiness to your day. _

_Indeed it was and is that support that brought me out of my 'snit' and prodded me into getting on with the story and continuing to transcribe from my notes._

_So read on, enjoy & review!_

_-.-_

Andrea was pulled abruptly from her thoughts as the phone in her pants pocket vibrated, rattling against the wooden sides of the less than comfortable chair she had pulled up to Miranda's bedside once she had gotten the all-clear to enter.

Cassidy and Caroline, she hadn't yet had the chance to further update them on their mother so the text came as no surprise, however a second text came in moments after the first that caused her to snort with laughter. She clapped a hand to her mouth so silence her slightly hysterical giggle but to no avail as Miranda's eyes were fluttering open in response to the noise.

'4GOT 2 ASK U 2 TELL THE DR THAT MOM HAS THE FLU - SHE THREW UP LAST 2 DAYS. XOXO C+C' Andy slipped her phone back into her pocket and picked up Miranda's hand as she stirred, holding it close to her heart and warming it with her own hands, resting her cheek on the fist their hands made. Slowly, Miranda took in the IV's and monitors all around her and bright blue eyes filled with fear as another whimper escaped tightly clenched lips.

"Shh, you're alright Miranda, you're okay. I'm here, you're safe now." After another long moment, Miranda was able to speak, but to her horror as she attempted her usual deadly low tones, she found her voice was alternately squeaky and hoarse.

"I know that, Andrea," she snapped, using the only other person in the room as an outlet for her fear fueled anger. "If I wasn't, there would already be newspapers heralding my return home...to hell," she qualified, seeing the confusion in the younger woman's eyes and then the hurt flashing across them.

Andrea winced at Miranda's description of herself and then sighed, it seemed that the older woman's murmured endearments really were only the product of her concussion and not a sign of anything deeper. She was no longer 'her Andrea," and the realization had her blinking back selfish tears of her own.

Noticing the younger woman's tears through her own, Miranda was about to ask her about it when a light knock at the door signalled the attending ER doctor's arrival.

"Ah, Ms. Priestly, er...Miranda," the man corrected himself at the violent shake of Andy's head and the way she mouthed 'Miranda' at him silently while the woman in question glared at him from the semi-reclined hospital bed. He shot a grateful look at Andy before continuing. "Would you mind stepping out while I go over Miranda's chart with her?"

"Andrea stays," Miranda shook her head much to Andy's surprise given her earlier comments;wincing as pain shot through her skull at the sudden movement and Andy quickly moved from the chair to perching on the side of the bed so that Miranda could lean on her inconspicuously without having to lie down again.

"You were brought in, presenting in a state of semi-consciousness..." the doctor went on to go over in more detail what Andrea had already been told by Dr. Avery until he came to news of the pregnancy.

The doctor cleared his throat nervously before steeling himself for whatever reaction would accompany his next words. He found himself pathetically grateful for the younger woman's presence in the room and the obvious calming effect she had on his intimidating patient. Actually, if his chart hadn't informed him otherwise, he would have assumed the two women were an item. It seemed obvious to him as he watched the wordless communication and unwavering support between the two, especially in the way the younger woman placed her body protectively in front of his patient as if to shield her from any further harm.

"The initial tests we performed upon admitting you to the hospital indicated an 8 week pregnancy, which we confirmed with an internal ultrasound," his neat spiel trailed off uncertainly as Miranda's face reddened in indignation and then paled alarmingly as she sagged against the woman beside her for a moment as she struggled to regain her composure before fixing the handsome blonde with as intimidating a death glare as she could muster given her weakened state.

"It seems I cannot escape the appalling incompetence of others even in such an established setting as a top tier emergency room. I am not pregnant, I cannot be." Her voice wavered at this last sentence and she swallowed thickly before continuing. "After my girls were born, the doctors all but wrote it out for me that it was unlikely I would ever be able to conceive again." Miranda closed her eyes for a moment and squeezed Andrea's hand more tightly, longing to feel the young woman's embrace but too proud to ask for or initiate the contact.

"Well apparently, you beat the odds. I can assure you, Ms...Miranda, that you are without a doubt, expecting. You'll need to follow up with your own OB of course, but..."

"Is that all?" Miranda's voice cut cleanly through the doctor's speech and he looked discomfited at the reaction.

"Erm, yes, the uh - the police have been notified and will be here in the morning to collect your statement and t-take pictures."

"Go bore someone else with your false sympathies and mindless babbling then,

Normally, Andrea would have said something to soften Miranda's words, but the trembling frame pressed against hers and the persistent tones of the monitors were more than enough of an explanation for Miranda's behaviour. Considering what she'd just been through, if it wasn't apparent that the scared, battered woman was putting up a defensive front then the doctor didn't deserve to treat victims of abuse.

Her breath caught as her mind reran her last impossible thought, only to realize that the impossible was true. She'd always known Miranda Priestly wasn't invincible, but to think of her as a victim would have been inconceivable if the evidence wasn't pressed against her at this moment, terrified and shivering. She looked back at Miranda only for her heart to thump painfully once more as she took in the quivering lower lip and the barely concealed tears and the working of her jaw as Miranda tried desperately not to cry in front of the stranger who'd just ruined her denial that her world was falling apart.

Andy dismissed the doctor with a smile, with a thinly concealed threat that if a single word was leaked to the press, a blanket restriction of medical licenses could be put into effect. The man nodded once, jerkily, nearly tripping over himself in his haste to make his own threats to the staff on this floor.

"We would like to keep you under observation for the next 24 hours because of the concussion and the abdominal trauma you sustained. All being well, we can release you tomorrow morning. A nurse will be in every two hours or so to wake you up, standard procedure for any concussion patient..."

"No," Miranda couldn't quite stifle the sob at the back of her throat as she had to face the prospect of more unfamiliar people touching her.

"But,"

"I said NO!" Miranda's face whitened and she pressed a hand to her aching ribs as she tried to catch her breath.

Andrea jumped in quickly, "The nurses can see her monitors from the computer at the desk, if you can reduce the frequency of nurses coming to 6 hours, I was planning on staying anyway, so I can wake her every couple of hours. Dr. Avery already told me what to look for with concussions, trouble breathing, a sudden increase in dizziness or nausea, blurred vision and dryness of mouth. Does that sound acceptable Miranda?" Andy turned her attention to the woman beside her and Miranda nodded vaguely, her eyes still closed as she continued to fight against the rising panic inside her.

The doctor fled, closing the door behind him and Miranda slumped over completely, shoulders shuddering with the violent sobs she'd been waiting to release. And now, in the warm comfort of Andrea's arms, she felt safe enough to let go. Knowing words weren't wanted or needed at that moment, Andy simply rested her cheek gently on the mussed white head as Miranda sobbed in paroxysms of grief, the shock sinking in as she took in what had taken place in the last few hours and what the consequences of those hours would be.

Concerned that the older woman might hyperventilate and pass out again, Andrea rubbed gentle circles on her back and adjusted the bed so that Miranda was able to lie down and Andy was able to keep her in her arms.

"H-he s-said I was pregnant, Andrea,"

"I know, I know," Andy continued to try and soothe the distraught woman in her arms.

"I'm having Stephen's baby and he's gone," she sobbed in utter desolation. "I'm over forty fucking five years old. I can't do this again, not alone, not on my own. I don't want him back but I don't want to do this alone… And this baby…he or she deserves to be born to two parents who want her and love her."

It was infinitely more terrifying for Andrea to see Miranda like this than it had ever been to witness her office tirades and risk her fury during her time at Runway. Daily demands of the impossible were the norm, and so the dictatorial reign gave a sense of constancy, if nothing else.

But Andy couldn't help but be grateful for the opportunity to hold Miranda in her arms and offer what little comfort she could; knowing that when this was all over, Miranda would in all likelihood spurn her embrace once more and armour herself with the Ice Queen persona that served as her shield on a daily basis in the professional world.


	5. Chapter 5: Revelations

"Hey Nige," Andrea stood in the far corner of the spacious hospital room to make the round of necessary calls. She knew she ran the risk of waking Miranda, who has finally fallen into a fitful slumber, but that risk was overwhelmed by her desire not to leave the older woman's side or have her out of her sight.

"Six! What's up? I'm just on my way into the office," the older man's harried but cheerful voice came through the phone, tugging the corner of Andy's lips into a reluctant smile. "You know it's been nearly six months since you left and my heart STILL skips a beat when I see your name on caller id. I keep thinking you're calling me to tell me Miranda's pushed up a run-through or is on her way to the office three hours ahead of schedule." He laughed easily.

"Nigel, I need you to come to New York Presbyterian as soon as you've got things running smoothly at the office."

"Oh my God, what happened? I mean you're talking, that's got to be good. Do you need me now?…I'll find some way to sneak out -"

"No, Nigel, Nigel it's Miranda," Andy's voice broke slightly but she forced herself to continue.

"Stephen came home last night and, he…"

"Say no more, Six, I'm on my way. Is she all right? How bad is it? Why are you with her? Nevermind, I'll be there soon. Don't leave her, Andy…" Nigels's last command echoed accusingly in her ears even after she'd hung up, although the man couldn't have known how his words had hurt her.

"You called, Nigel?" Miranda's voice was still hoarse from her earlier tears, and alarmingly close, Andy realized as she turned around to see Miranda rise unsteadily from the bed and painstakingly make her way towards the sitting area near the window where Andy was currently occupying the couch.

"He's the only person I trust to take care of you…"

Miranda's face darkened. "Oh, you're leaving…" The broken, whispered 'of course' that followed silently spurred Andy to voice what she was feeling in much harsher tones than she had originally intended, wanting Miranda to listen and understand what she was trying to say.

"Not unless you bar me from this hospital and take out a restraining order, which I am well aware you are more than capable of doing so despite injury and exhaustion."

"Oh," Miranda's voice was small and quiet as she replied, seemingly shocked and chastened by Andy's words and her impassioned delivery of them.

Miranda closed her eyes wearily, trying to process everything that had happened in the last 12 hours and becoming overwhelmed with it all; an entirely displeasing and new emotion she intended on crushing the moment she had her strength back.

The pain, that for the sake of the baby she would not allow to be numbed by medication, was making itself increasingly evident in the trembling heaviness and soreness of her limbs, and she leaned against the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beloved city that had become her salvation and her prison after she had moved here from London.

She had never before struggled so with words or the act of speaking her mind as she did now, with Andrea. Even with the looming threat of million dollar budgets, her decisive nature was not easily swayed or subdued.

She didn't know how to tell the young woman that she needed her here, desperately. That realization truly had come the moment Andrea had walked away in Paris. Then, Miranda had told herself she didn't need anyone in her life, could and would get along just fine, just her and the girls and that she was strong enough not to run after Andrea and make a fool of herself. But that decision had proved nearly fatal as it had pushed her back into Stephen's arms.

And now, when she was finally willing to forgo pride, her legs and body failed her, and it seemed her lips would too.

Andy could see the unspoken need in Miranda's eyes and sensed her struggle for words. Letting her heart rule her as it once did in the naivete that had run her life before Runway, Andy slipped an arm around the slender waist, which Miranda's hand held close to her.

"Sleep now, Miranda. I'm not leaving…"

"Why should I believe you?" The harsh words were out of Miranda's mouth before she could stop them, and she cursed herself inwardly for being such a coward that she drove people away before they had the chance to hurt her.

"We can talk later, but now you need to rest. If not for your sake or mine, then for your children's sake; the ones who right now are with their father worried sick for you, and for the one in your belly that I know you love already, even if you can't admit that to yourself fully just yet."

"I'm tired," Miranda agreed as she stood with her head resting against the cool glass of the window, not moving her gaze from the busy Manhattan cityscape below. "I am so very tired, Andrea…Too tired for games or the plays for power I would normally not hesitate to use to get what I want. But this time, Andrea," Miranda's eyes now turned to her, and despite the dull, exhausted cast to the bright blue Andrea could see a sense of determination and decidedness in their depths.

"This time, the object of my desire is you," the steady gaze faltered and dropped to study the floor as she spoke quietly.

"The gift of your presence while I've been…indisposed, has been nothing short of a blessing. And if it should end here, I would go on to take solace in the memory of seeing you again. But I…" the older woman faltered once more but held a hand up to stop Andy as she started towards her, knowing she needed to get this out now or she would never say it.

"I thought that there might be something else, something more I mean."

Now Andy moved forward, blatantly disregarding the tension in her former boss' shoulders as she pulled her into a warm embrace, which the editor sank gratefully into as she inhaled the honey and lily musked scent of her Andrea.

"You were right, Miranda," Andy chuckled wryly as she tightened her hold slightly before relaxing so that she could pull back to look the woman in the eyes.

"Of course you were right. There was, is, something more to how I feel for you; and there has been since before Paris. Nothing else could have had me running so scared. I understood, I didn't like it, but ultimately I understood your actions regarding Nigel and Irv. It was the thought of inevitably disappointing you that was the cause for my leaving. I couldn't keep loving you in silence as I did, knowing you didn't feel the same way. Watching you cry over that bastard ripped my heart out. Your pain was and is my pain. And I knew that pain would destroy me, hence the awful night with Christian," Andy missed Miranda's scowl at the mention of the acclaimed writer.

"It scared me how deeply I had fallen, how far I had managed to fall in a short time and not even being in a relationship."

Miranda sagged against Andrea, her knees and heart failing her at this heartfelt confession until she could no longer stand on her own.

"Shh, I've got you," Andy steadied Miranda for the few steps backward until the back of her knees hit the armchair by the window and she sat down heavily, pulling Miranda onto her lap.

Truly tired, and grateful for the gentle contact, Miranda lay her head on the young woman's shoulder and closed her eyes, as much out of exhaustion as trepidation over the words about to spill from her lips.

"Harry Potter…" Miranda felt the vibrations of the girl's chuckle against her cheek. "That's when I knew what I felt for you was more than simple attraction. You took everything I threw at you and presented it back to me, carefully organized and wrapped up in a shiny 'rebound' bow. Your strength and grace unsettled me, and left me unsettled ever since."

Tired to the point of tears now, the ache in Miranda's already bruised chest grew too great to ignore, and forgoing the last bit of pride she had clung to, she clung instead to Andrea, letting the tears claim her once more.

"If I'd known…If I had only known…I never would have let him hurt me. As it was I didn't care. It had happened before, I told myself, why shouldn't it happen now even though we're separated. But I swear it, Andrea," she looked at me then, hauntingly blue eyes staring brokenly into mine before her gaze and her hands fluttered gently over her belly. "If I'd known about the child inside of me, I would have fought him tooth and nail. Oh God, Andrea, if I lose this baby because of what I let him do to me – and what he did tonight was so much worse than anything he'd done before…" her voice trailed off again in a whispered sob and Andy got on her knees beside the bed soothing the older woman with nonsense sounds and words, lightly stroking the unbruised cheek as if to remind her that human contact could be kind and gentle.

**I'm in grateful awe at the amount of followers this story has garnered in the last few chapters. Now if only I could find some way to beg for the same amount of reviews? ;)**

**Let me know what you're thinking so far! How am I doing with Andy and Miranda? Like I said, my first DWP OR Mirandy story and my pet peeve is non-canon characters, so give me a shout! Yay? Nay? Bore someone else with your questions, lady? **

**XO**


	6. Chapter 6: Realities & Revelations

**Hello, readers! I am back from the land of fever-induced dreams! Involving a 'slut parade' led by Anne Boleyn and my old boss who kinda looks like Meryl Streep and they were all made to look like Faberge eggs and were made out of straw and then we had to take exams and jump over logs..Ugh. So HOPEFULLY I'm on the mend, and I hope none of you get what I had...Honestly, I felt worse than when I had H1N1 (neither are a walk in the park).**

The next time Miranda woke, it was to gentle kisses being pressed to her forehead and down her cheek to her mouth.

"Good morning, Miranda," Andy's soft voice brought her fully into wakefulness and she moaned slightly as she parted her lips to allow further access. But after a moment or two had passed, an entirely different moan crossed Miranda's lips and she pushed Andrea away, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs over the side of the bed as she prepared to bolt for the washroom.

However, she hadn't taken more than two steps when the pressure on her injured ankle became too much and her knees buckled in response to the pain that only served to heighten the unpleasant churning of her stomach.

Despite her initial shock at being pushed away so violently after Miranda had allowed her to deepen the kiss, Andy nevertheless caught Miranda around the waist as she fell.

"Miranda? What's the matter?" Andy vaguely registered the panic in her own voice as she struggled to keep her arms around the older woman.

A quick tensing of the abdominal muscles underneath her hand and the sweaty, flushed pallor of Miranda's skin clued Andy in as to what the problem was and she managed to get Miranda into the bathroom in time for the editor to lunge for the toilet and empty what little was in her stomach.

"That wasn't exactly the reaction I was hoping my kiss would have on you," Andy joked wryly as she helped to steady the ill woman over the toilet.

Tears leaked out of Miranda's eyes as she continued to retch, her fingers sweatily palming the porcelain bowl, too sick to even think of how unsanitary her current position probably was.

Once again, Andy felt the muscles beneath her fingertips convulse as Miranda's began another bout of heaving. Keeping one arm around Miranda, Andy reached over with her other hand for one of the washcloths she could see neatly folded in an alcove beside the sink; and wetting one, she gently wiped Miranda's face and mouth before throwing it in a bag marked 'Laundry' and getting a fresh one to press to the back of her neck.

Feeling the jerky contractions of Miranda's upset stomach, Andy started to move her hand in small circles and Miranda whimpered appreciatively as the room stopped spinning with the comforting touch.

Barely anyone dared touch Miranda Priestly. Except of course, Stephen had dared. The thought of her third ex-husband was enough to have her clapping a hand over her mouth as the nausea threatened to overwhelm her once more.

Offering Miranda a paper cup of mouthwash, Andy watched over Miranda protectively as she rinsed and spat before helping her back over to the bed, surprised but pleased as Miranda's grip on her hand tightened as she tried to rise from where she sat, still nestled into the other woman on the bed.

Miranda just sniffed as she pulled Andy's hand back over her belly, wordlessly prompting the younger woman to continue with the gentle massage. Andrea pressed a kiss to her forehead as Miranda nestled further into her, snuggling her head into the crook of Andrea's shoulder before she closed her eyes and let out a soft, contented sigh.

Andrea's hand felt so good against her uncomfortable belly, Miranda thought sleepily to herself as she once more indulged in the luxury of sleeping in the arms of the woman she was coming to realize she loved. It was a fact only several people in the world knew that Miranda Priestly was terrified of being sick. Sure, everyone at Runway had picked up on the fact that her moods were infinitely more dangerous and mercurial when she was ill, but they chalked that up to Miranda being angry that she couldn't get as much done or annoyed that she wasn't feeling well.

The thought never even crossed their mind that the Dragon Lady herself was truly angry out of fear. Never even mind the fact that no one seemed to care if she was ill except her girls. It was an irrational fear, she knew. But the moment she felt a bad cold coming on, her mood plummeted. This went doubly if there was nausea involved; because without fail, Miranda Priestly would cry whenever she threw up. She couldn't help it, she was just so miserable, and the feeling of helplessness and not being in control of her body terrified her to the point of tears.

She had allowed those tears to fall today in front of Andrea when she had been disgracefully and embarrassingly ill; but the young woman hadn't scorned her in disgust, or left her to deal with it alone. Instead Andrea had stayed by her side, comforting her and wiping her face with a cool cloth before helping her rinse the awful taste out of her mouth and laying down with her.

Never before had Miranda felt so cherished; that thought in itself was enough to cause her eyes to sting once more with unshed tears. After fighting it for so long, it felt GOOD to be taken care of and fussed over.

In a few hours she was going to be released from the hospital, and the thought that after all that had happened in the last two days she would end up alone again was too painful to think about. So she didn't; and like every other time Andrea had held her or touched her, Miranda was soothed into a peaceful sleep.

The next two hours were a blur as the attending physician and Dr. Avery checked Miranda over one last time before the police came and took pictures of Miranda's injuries for the police report. And no matter how hard Andy railed, the detectives could not and would not file a charge against Stephen without hard evidence that he had been the one to assault her. His fingerprints on the door meant nothing. Nigel had arrived some time after that and relieved Andy long enough for her to run back across town to pack a bag and grab her work stuff out of her apartment. Finally 11:00 am found Andy and Miranda on their way back to the townhouse.

Miranda had been silent for the entire car ride, save for a sharp intake of breath whenever the wheels went over a bump and jarred her bruised ribs; not having even bothered to react to the photographers waiting outside the hospital like vultures ready to dive in for the remains.

After making sure the police and cleaning crew had cleared out, she went upstairs and found Miranda sitting on the edge of the bed, clad only in a matching La Perla bra and panty set. Her hair fell forwards and her shoulders were hunched as one hand traced the faint pink and silver lines over her flat belly. She looked…broken, and heartbreakingly human.

Andy shifted slightly and the floorboards creaked beneath her, belying her position at the doorway. Miranda stiffened at the noise as she realized someone was there before slumping over once more, famed white forelock limply hanging by her face, hiding the red rimmed eyes and swollen nose.

"Miranda," Andrea spoke quietly as she approached the forlorn figure. "Miranda," she repeated herself once more although the woman in front of her gave no sign that she had heard or seen her since that first creak of the floor.

Sighing softly to herself, Andy knelt directly in front of the older woman so that she was directly in her gaze, and her heart ached as she saw that the tear tracks drying on her face were also present on her belly; her head ducked in shame so that the tears that slipped relentlessly from her eyes crested and rolled down to the indent of her navel which she was so desolately contemplating.

"You should have waited for me to help you up the stairs," Andy reached up to brush a tear away and Miranda grabbed her wrist in an almost painful vise with her good hand.

"Why are you doing this, Andrea?" Miranda whispered hoarsely. "Don't you realize that I won't be able to pick up the pieces again? God, I could barely do it the first time."

"Miranda, what are you talking about? I'm doing this because I love you!" The words were out of Andy's mouth before she could filter them. Ugh, she felt like kicking herself…what made her think Miranda was ready to hear those words? Especially after everything she'd been through with Stephen.

"It's I who loves you, Andrea…and before you ask, the answer is no. No, my affections are not merely based on my gratitude for your actions. But don't you see, you silly girl? This is why you HAVE to leave! Now while I have the strength to consider letting you go," the older woman moaned. "I won't bring you into the sordid misery of the life of the Snow Queen. What you think of as love may be only hero worship. But think, Andrea… I am more than 18 years your senior. I have two children and another on the way if it is to make it at all…I should have realized it sooner, why didn't I realize sooner?"

Miranda rose painfully to her feet and limped across the room to the full length mirror, gazing disdainfully at her reflection. "How could I have been such an idiot? Thinking it was only the beginning of middle age spread. It didn't even cross my mind that it could be anything else, never even mind a…a baby. Andrea you're little more than a baby yourself, have you thought of that? The novelty of having melted the 'Ice Queen' will wear off, and like all others before you you'll realize that you're stuck with a frumpy, middle aged woman who is difficult to live with and even more difficult to love. I would be ending your life if I allowed myself to be so weak as to let you stay and attempt a relationship. I…"

Miranda realized that Andrea hadn't followed her over to the mirror and she turned, looking for the younger woman. When her eyes finally did find Andrea, Miranda couldn't quite bring herself to trust them.

Andrea was standing a few feet away, half naked as she tried to put on the pair of cream wool trousers Miranda had discarded.

"Andrea, what on earth are you doing?"

"These don't fit, Miranda," Andy let the fabric fall back down around her legs and she stepped out of the pants as she walked towards Miranda.

"Does that make me disgusting to you?"

"Of course not, Andrea, don't be ridiculous! Haven't you heard a word I've been saying?"

Andy turned Miranda back towards the mirror so that they were front to back once more. "Then why? Miranda…Why would you ever think that I would stop loving you just because your body will not always be perfect?" Andy unclasped Miranda's bra and untangled it from the older woman's grasp so that she could see her.

Running her hands down Miranda's sides, Andy knelt behind her, raining kisses down her body while she slipped the silk panties off her thighs.

Standing up again, Andy gently turned Miranda's face towards her reflection with her thumb and forefinger.

"What do you see, Miranda?"

"A frumpy older woman, who with no makeup or clothes has a fairly well taken care of but nonetheless sagging body that is riddled with stretch marks and lines...a body that has failed to please anyone who has come to it."

"Nope," Andy shook her head. "That's not what I see. I see a stunningly beautiful woman, whose body has borne two beautiful, healthy children and carries the weight of the world on one slender, pale set of shoulders. Now I might not be the arbiter of what is beautiful to the rest of the world, but I know for sure what I do find to be beautiful, and that's you."

"I'm going to get very large, Andrea."

"Mmm, maybe even a size 6, the horror!" Andrea slipped her arms around Miranda and pressed her lips to her neck once more. "Yes, you're going to get bigger, Miranda. But there are a million girls who would KILL for that job."

At this, Miranda turned to look into wistful, brown eyes whose owner led her over to the bed and turned back the covers, prompting her to get underneath them with her.

"Do you love me any less now knowing that I can't have children?" Andy's voice broke as she revealed her deepest secret.

"Andrea I…what?" Miranda's voice broke slightly as she reached for the younger woman.

"Yeah, " Andy nodded miserably, pulling her knees up to her chest along with the blankets. "And don't you dare for ONE MINUTE even THINK of suggesting that's why I want to be with you, when the girls called me, you didn't even know about the baby." Andy gestured angrily at Miranda's belly.

"W-when?"

"Just before my last birthday, a month before I started working for you; routine pap smear ended any half-cocked romantic fantasies about kids or Nate or anything," she scoffed, "especially Nate. I thought he was okay with it, we were both upset but it's not like either of us had thought about kids in the immediate future anyway, but apparently he was more upset than I thought. He started bringing it up when we were fighting, about how I should be grateful he'd decided to stick around even though I was damaged goods."

"Andrea, I never…"

"Knew? Why would you? Why should you have known, Miranda? You were my boss then, nothing more despite Nate's accusations and my own daydreams. It was my problem to handle…and I thought I had, handled it I mean. Ugh!" Andy swiped a hand across her eyes and sniffed before running a hand through her hair and smiling wryly up at Miranda.

"See, I'm not all that perfect, either Miranda. And I don't expect or want you to be, or want me to be. If puzzle pieces were perfect squares then it would be all too easy to break the picture apart. Call it cheesy, or corny or tacky…call it however you want it, but that's how I think of us. Our imperfections, even the smallest of rough edges are what bind us to one another. That's why we fit, and I know we do, Miranda, we fit."

Miranda hadn't noticed the new wetness re-dampening her cheeks until Andy reached out to brush a tear away from her face. And Miranda sighed, knowing what she had to do; what she wouldn't do for anyone else save for her girls or for Andy. She used humour to deflect the situation.

"Well," Miranda sniffed, affecting her usual bored tones and haughty posture. "As if you could be any more insensitive, talking about 'fit' at a time like this."

Andy's mouth had dropped open in shock and indignation at the first part of Miranda's speech, and she hadn't quite recovered when Miranda grinned evilly at her after a moment.

"Close your mouth Andrea, it's a decidedly unflattering position."

"You? You! Oh my God, Miranda," Andy spluttered before pouncing forward lightly so that Miranda was forced to lie back against the pillows with Andy on all fours above her, eyes sparking merrily.

"I, I do love you, you silly girl."

Andy carefully manoeuvred herself off the bed so that she was once more perched on the side.

"Oh God, Miranda, I'm never going to get tired of hearing you say that."

"I don't make a habit of repeating myself…But perhaps, with time, I could be persuaded otherwise. And if you've finished keeping me up with all these needless insecurities, I think I should rest now."

Andy growled slightly, even as she tenderly stroked back the signature white forelock from Miranda's exhausted features and pressed a kiss to her forehead before slipping quietly from the room and turning out the lights.

"I'm not goin' anywhere."

**So next chapter, the twins find out the news, we see some of the after-effects of Miranda's attack and then, after all that, the story will begin to move forward for the next couple of chapters. **

**As always, let me know how I'm doing! Send some of that enthusiasm over the computer so that I don't decide in prescription-induced fantasy to simply roll over and take a nap. So tempting. **

**Anyway, REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7: Twice the Adjustments

**Keep reviewing! It really does get chapters uploaded faster (when I don't have midterms), especially because I see them in my hotmail which I check constantly for work! Also, because seeing them makes me smile. **

Miranda was finally asleep. Fifteen minutes after Andy had finally been able to calm the older woman down enough to get some rest the phone had rang and Miranda had been informed by the advisor of a soon-to-be unemployed doctor that Miranda was in fact having twins, something the attending physician had conveniently forgotten to mention in the face of Miranda's wrath back at the hospital. Miranda had fallen eerily silent as Andy berated the man on the other end of the phone for the carelessness and thoughtlessness of the doctors under his control, especially considering the hospital was considered one of, if not the best, hospitals in North America.

Two...two babies. Not one baby to worry about, but two. Miranda hadn't broken down again into hysterical sobbing as she'd done before. It was altogether scarier to see the fierce woman with her head bowed and silent tears streaming down her face as she'd murmured to Andy in a dead, emotionless voice that she didn't expect her to stay now. That she wasn't prepared to burden the young woman with the responsibility of four children as she would be if her relationship with Miranda continued. Andy had only sighed and climbed back into bed with Miranda, cuddling the small, shivering frame into her chest and rocking her slowly, whispering words of love and encouragement, trying to show the editor just how much she wanted to be in her life, now and forever until sheer exhaustion had at last coaxed her into unconsciousness once more.

Andrea was two floors down in the kitchen, pouring boiling water into two cups for tea when she heard the scream. Jerking suddenly at the noise, Andrea didn't even notice the splash of scalding water across her hand as she all but dropped the kettle in her haste to get upstairs. She burst into Miranda's room, her eyes scanning for anything out of the norm before catching sight of the thrashing figure tangled in the sheets from which horrible, choked sobs were coming.

Crawling up onto the mattress, Andrea wrapped her arms around the still sleeping woman. "Shh, Miranda, Miranda, you're okay. My love, you're sleeping, it's just a dream. You're safe, I've got you, you're safe." Andy kept repeating the calming mantra even as Miranda's eyes flew open, and she gasped, falling silent before succumbing to another set of shuddering sobs.

"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this!"

"Shh, what do you hate?"

"This fear, this weakness, being scared; how am I supposed to do anything?"

"You don't need to do anything, sweetheart. Right now, all you need to do lean on me."

"I can't do it, Andrea. I can't have this baby. I can't."

"Miranda, Miranda, love, what are you saying? You don't want the baby?"

"I want these babies more than anything. God help me, but I do!" Miranda sobbed, confusing Andrea even more. "I didn't even think I wanted more children, I DIDN'T want more children. But now that I know these babies are here…"

Andrea breathed a sigh of relief, she would have supported Miranda's decision either way, simply because she loved her – but knowing she wanted the baby lifted a weight off her shoulders she hadn't even known she'd been carrying.

Being a writer by profession, Andy rarely felt as though she had run out of words or couldn't find the right words to say. But as she sat on the edge of Miranda's bed, her arms braced on the mattress on either side of the crying woman so that she was encircled in a kind of protective cage, Andy had the epiphany that in this case, words weren't needed, weren't necessary for the situation. So instead she bent her arms further and took Miranda's mouth in a gentle kiss, working the tear dampened lips carefully until they parted to allow access to the moist velvet of her mouth.

It felt as though hours had passed by the time Andy pulled away, panting both with breathlessness from the prolonged contact and from the singing of the blood in her veins at the fact that Miranda had wholeheartedly returned the kiss after a moment.

The words on Andy's lips of 'Let me love you,' were overridden by a variation on the sentiment that she thought Miranda needed to hear, to understand. "Let yourself be loved, Miranda," Andrea's soft voice rasped over Miranda's body like an extension of the kiss that had left her alternately rigid and pliant in the younger woman's arms, needy with arousal and equal uncertainty.

The older woman pulled back reluctantly, a different emotion flickering over the desire darkened blue as they searched fervent, earnest brown. "I'm not always going to be this needy or affectionate, Andrea. The Dragon will rear its head in due time, it always does. It won't mean that I don't love you but it's something none of my other partners were ever able to deal with and I don't know how not to be that way, or even if I can."

"None of your partners were former assistants now were they? Besides, I think the Dragon Lady has shown herself a couple times over the last 48 hours or so and I'm still here aren't I?"

"For now…"

"For always, Miranda."

"It's just hard for me to believe it."

"Time will tell," Andrea kissed the much bitten bottom lip before bouncing lightly back off of the bed and holding out her hand.

"And speaking of time, the Terrible Two are about to arrive and we need to get you settled downstairs."

"You realize, Andrea, that in a little less than seven months it will be the 'Fearsome Four'?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

Anger, hot and fierce flowed through molten veins until her vision blurred red when Andrea saw the wince and hand pressed tightly to the still flat abdomen as Miranda edged carefully out of the king sized bed. There was no question about it, Stephen would pay for this. And if anything, ANYTHING threatened Miranda or the twins – the ones coming or the ones born… Andrea shook her head slightly to clear the murderous thoughts as she slipped a steady arm around the slender waist and let Miranda lean into her gently as they made their way down the curving staircase to the living room.

Andy had only just managed to clear the broken glass and spilled tea and get a fresh cup to Miranda when she heard the girl's voices at the front door and hurried into the hallway only to be bowled over by the same red-headed whirlwinds as from two nights ago. And remarking, as she received fierce hugs, just how sweet and affectionate the girls were when they weren't trying to make life hell for Miranda's assistants. She could only hope they still liked her when they found out how she 'liked' their mother.

"Hey munchkins!"

"Andy!"

"We missed you!"

"How's mom?"

"Is she okay?"

Andy gathered the twins into a hug and nodded for the benefit of the tall, well dressed man behind them who had been a part of her Miranda's life in such an important way before he smiled and left, knowing his ex-wife and daughters were in good hands. He was sure he'd hear the full story later, and rest assured he'd find out how that young lady fit into it all. "She's going to be fine, guys. Come on, you of all people should know she's tougher than you think."

"Andrea? Why do I not see my babies in front of me?" Miranda's 'dragon' voice floated through the hall and Andy rolled her eyes.

"Come on kiddos,"

"Gentle, gentle!" Andy cried out as the girls ran across the room and all but flung themselves in the direction of their mother, clinging to her as if she would disappear at any second.

"We were so worried, mom." Cassidy snuggled under one arm as Caroline took the other.

"Yeah, we didn't want anything bad to happen to you. Are you mad at us for calling Andy?"

Miranda tightened her hold on the girls and kissed the red hair on either side of her. "Never, my darlings. I'm so grateful and so proud you called someone for help in an emergency. You did exactly the right thing."

Picking the small girl up on Miranda's right side, Andy let her lay across her own lap as she took a seat beside Miranda.

Miranda looked at the sweet faces of her babies who weren't really babies anymore. She could only hope they wouldn't hate her after she told them what she had to.

"Bobbsey's, there is something we need to talk to you about." Miranda started softly, seeking out and finding Andrea's hand as she clasped it tightly to give her strength.

"Is Stephen going to jail?"

Miranda's eyes flashed sympathetically at the young girl just as Andrea's flashed in anger at the man who was the cause of all the troubles for this family.

"No, Caro," Andy used the name she had heard Miranda and Cassidy use before. "There wasn't enough evidence to prove it was him, the DA's office - that's the lawyers for the police , are trying to find a way to get him though. I'm not going to let him get away with hurting your mom, I promise." She looked over at the other worried girl still curled tightly against Miranda's body who nodded before hugging her mother tightly around the waist and prompting a slight wince and repositioning on Miranda's part.

Miranda looked up at the young woman who had turned out to be so strong through all of this, and silently begged her to continue.

Andy nodded, understanding the look in Miranda's eyes and took a deep breath before starting.

"So I know you guys can see your mom's pretty banged up so we're going to have to take extra care of her for a little while," this garnered a semi-glare from Miranda who normally detested being fussed over. "But she's going to need a little extra help over the next couple of months."

Almost in tandem, Caroline and Cassidy cocked their heads to the side in confusion, much in the same way their mother did when she was trying to think through something, Andy noticed, barely smothering a fond laugh.

"I'm going to have a baby, my darlings, two babies." Miranda murmured, her eyes equally wary and apologetic.

"A baby?"

"Twins?"

"Like us?"

"From Stephen?"

Andy quickly took over the situation, which looked at though it was escalating to a Defcon 3.

"Yup, you two are going to be big sisters. Isn't that cool?" Her raised eyebrow and threatening gaze silenced them as they saw Andy's head jerk suspiciously towards their mother who looked as though she were trying not to cry as she rested her hands on her stomach.

"Mom, it's okay. Don't cry! We're cool with it, really!"

"Yeah, we were just surprised, that's all. You have to admit mom, it's not something we were expecting."

"You're getting so grown up," Miranda held her arms out again, prompting the girls to return to her embrace from where they stood a couple feet away as they had jumped back when they'd heard the news.

"Not too grown up," Cassidy insisted.

"You can't replace us!" Caroline joined in. "But it will be cool to boss someone else around for a change."

Andy ruffled her hair. "Alright, Munchkins, you want to give your mom a break and come help me with lunch?"

Both girls shot worried looks at each other and then back at their mother, who realized at once what the problem was.

"I'll be fine, Bobbsey's. Go and make sure Andrea doesn't burn down the kitchen. Maria would have our heads if she returned Monday to find 'her' kingdom in ruins."

Knowing Miranda's stomach was still shaky, Andy put together a plate of finger foods; fruit and vegetables and and crackers for her to nibble on while the girls had requested peanut butter and honey - much to the chagrin of their mother and the pride of Andy. After making the girls' once in a while treat Andy loaded the dishwasher and was returning to the living room when the girls pulled her aside.

"Andy can we ask you something?"

"Shoot!"

"Is mom really okay?"

"She will be guys, the pregnancy's going to be pretty rough on your mom but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she and the babies are healthy."

"But why? I mean, no offense Andy but it's weird. She's letting you touch her and do things for her. She NEVER lets anyone do that except us, not even dad or Nigel."

"That's something you need to ask your mom, Cass, but would it be okay if I was around a lot more?"

A dual enthusiastic "YES!" met her ears and she relaxed a little, knowing the girls might be open someday to learning about her and Miranda as more than friends.

"Wait," Caroline's brow was furrowed. "So does that mean you like, 'like' our mom?"

"Of course I do, Caroline,"

With a glance over at her twin, Cassidy knew instantly what Caroline was really asking and she shot a questioning look at her sister before seemingly reading what was in her mind and turning back to Andy with an understanding nod.

"She doesn't mean like that, I think she means do you LIKE our mom...like a girlfriend."

Andy was careful in her response, trying to hide the fact that interrogation by two ten year olds was nearly as intimidating as one with their mother. "What would you guys think of that if it WAS true?"

The girls surprised Andy by looking at each other for another long moment before throwing their arms around Andy's waist in a synchronized movement that nearly brought the tray in her arms onto the tile floor.

At the sound of the second crash in the space of an hour, Miranda walked softly over to the arch above the kitchen entrance and leaned against the wall, smiling as she took in the scene before her.

"I warned you about giving them sugar," she offered wryly before the twins re-attached themselves to her and dragged her into the kitchen.

"So mom, when are you going to ask Andy to move in?"

Miranda's eyebrow nearly disappeared into her hairline before a small snort escaped at Andy's panicked expression.

"Andrea, put that glass down before we have another accident," Miranda walked over to the flabbergasted young woman and took the glass out of her hands before wrapping her arms around her waist and pecking her lightly on the nose. "Welcome to the family, darling."

Pulling back, Miranda cast an eye at the broken glass on the floor and then towards her daughters who blushed furiously.

"That was our fault mom."

"We'll clean it up."

"Thanks for the offer guys, but I don't want you to cut your bare feet on the glass," Andy continued easily before catching Miranda's look of surprise and approval and yep, love and getting a bit breathless.

Miranda nodded once more, "Although I'm sure Andrea would appreciate you clearing the plates up after lunch while we talk some more."

"'Kay mom,"

"My goodness, I should have gotten pregnant sooner if it's made the two of you so agreeable,"

Cassidy scuffed her foot on the ground and glanced furtively at her sister who replied, "We just don't want anything to happen to you..."

"Or the babies,"

Miranda's throat tightened again and she couldn't quite curse the hormones she knew would soon start to run rampant as she gathered her girls in her arms.

"I love you all very much, all three of you,"

"All five," Andy countered warmly, including the extra two little lives in the centre of the embrace.

"We love you too, mom."

"But we're NOT changing diapers," the girls chorused before breaking into giggles as Miranda's playfully swatted their behinds as they scampered out of the kitchen."

"We're going to go put away our stuff before lunch!"

"Stuff? Andrea, within 48 hours have you really managed to corrupt 6 years of private education?"

"I aim to please!" Andy teased back suggestively as she drew Miranda into an entirely different embrace than the one that had taken place a few moments ago.

Miranda sat down at the kitchen table while Andy set out the plates for lunch, surprising the younger woman - Andy expected Miranda would never stop surprising her - by taking a careful bite out of each of the girls' sandwiches before putting them back down and daintily licking a drop of spilled honey off her middle finger.

Andy swallowed thickly, glad there wasn't anything else in her hands that she could drop or break. "You're going to be the death of me," she remarked breathlessly as Miranda teased the offending, sticky sweet digit in and out of her pink lips, wetting them with a swipe of her tongue.

"Don't be ridiculous, Andrea, you're here now and...you're never allowed to leave me," Miranda's voice was lower and huskier now, though Andy could still see the glimmer of uncertainty. Deciding that uncertainty needed to be remedied, Miranda's breath hitched in an aroused gasp as Andrea pressed her lips to her open mouth, delicately swiping any remnants of honey before laving Miranda's finger with equal attention.

"Oh gross!"

"Ewww, seriously guys? Could you not do that?"

"Yeah, we're about to eat!"

"My apologies, Bobbseys," Miranda grinned, showing her teeth in a manner that told Andrea she wasn't the least bit sorry.

**There, see? Nice long chapter. So review! **


	8. Chapter 8: The Sandman's Task

**Happy New Year & Auld Lang Syne and all that good stuff. My muse has been as uncooperative as the weather and I've been tentatively coaxing her out with my leftover from Christmas Terry's Dark Chocolate Oranges. And so here is the fruit (haha no pun intended) of my labours!**

**I'm hoping there's still a few hanger's on to this story and I can get my loyal following back. Reviews are what feed my muse when the Terry's Oranges are gone ;) If you divide it up though, 8 chapters in 3 months isn't bad at all is it?**

Andy flopped backwards onto the silky comforter of the king-sized bed and exhaled noisily one Wednesday evening after a particularly trying day. It had been two weeks since Miranda's attack and Stephen appeared to be laying low, his secretary stating he was in the Bahamas preparing for trial. It sickened Andy that he was in a courtroom so often as a lawyer when he was more suited to the shackles his clients sported. Given that he worked in matters of corporate law, the people and corporations he defended dealt mostly with charges of embezzlement or siphoning surplus funds – theirs wasn't even a violent crime.

Then Miranda had suggested that Andy move in, Andy had been shocked Miranda had so readily brought the topic up for discussion, but the older woman had merely flicked her wrist dismissively, demurring any of Andy's stuttered protests or questions and raising an eyebrow, asked Andy if she expected her to justify her decisions.

Andy had nearly flattened Miranda when she had pressed her against the wall, showing her appreciation in the kisses and gentle bites she had rained across the pale expanses of skin her hands had exposed as she divested the luxurious garments from Miranda's body.

Just as quickly as the decision had made for Andy to give up her apartment, any talk of a guest room was also quickly dismissed, although Miranda had added in a more halted tone that it was likely she would prefer to sleep alone at times, especially as the pregnancy advanced.

Miranda was ten weeks pregnant now, and much to Andy's chagrin had only gained one pound so far. But Andy could hardly blame Miranda. Truly it did seem that everything she put past her lips made a reappearance shortly thereafter, and given that was the case Andy wasn't sure she'd want to be eating either. Despite the negligible change in weight however, Andy could now see the beginnings of change in Miranda's body brought on by the pregnancy. Her waist was slightly thicker and less defined and her breasts had swollen half a cup size, much to Andy's delight and Miranda's annoyance, and were deliciously delicate and sensitive so that Miranda could hardly bear even the softest of lingerie. Andy had suggested getting some cotton bras and panties, but that suggestion had only been met with a growl before Miranda stripped down to the matching lace set and inquired if Andrea had any complaints.

Yep, that had shut her up pretty quickly, Andy smiled to herself wickedly as she kicked off her heels, still flat on her back on the bed.

Her hand grazed over her belt buckle and lower, jerking her hips forward as she became embarrassingly aroused from the simple touch. They hadn't made love for a week, once Miranda's injuries started to heal it seemed like the morning sickness and other pregnancy symptoms and changes had swept in with a vengeance, as if making up for the two months Miranda hadn't suspected she was pregnant. That and the fact that the morning sickness could and did hit at any time put a definite kink of the non-sexy variety into their love lives.

Andy didn't care. Nope, she could live with a hormonal, nauseous Miranda because it meant she got to live with Miranda in the first place. And the poor thing really was miserable, in keeping their relationship from the press, the only time they could see each other was at the townhouse. Andy had no idea how Miranda was coping at work between trying to finish the divorce paperwork as soon as possible and keeping Runway's reputation for perfection while most likely hanging her head over the toilet every few meetings.

Andy had been able to wrest seven days vacation from her boss at The Mirror, but she had to go back to work 2 days early to cover a story on the increased gang activity in the Bronx to coincide with a drive-by shooting.

Nigel and Emily were the only ones permitted even the slightest bit of insight into Miranda's relationship with Andy, considering they had had to keep the magazine running for the seven days Miranda was forced into resting for the sake of her cracked ribs. And even that might not have been enough to stop her were it not for the bruises and cuts that no amount of makeup could hide. But if Miranda got any worse, even the privacy of her en-suite bathroom wasn't going to be able to conceal the truth from Nigel and Emily, especially if Andy was able to convince her to let the pair in on news of the pregnancy.

Just then the object of her musings walked through the frosted French doors that led into their rooms, but instead of walking over to the bed to give Andy her much fought for 'hello' kiss, Miranda went directly to the antique French glass mirror next to the entrance of their wardrobe.

"Mmmm,"

"Miranda? What's wrong?" Andy sat up briskly, propelling herself off the bed so that she was standing a few feet behind her, still unable to see the reflection Miranda was so seriously pondering.

"Nothing's wrong," she flattened her hands against the lilac satin Nanette Lepore blouse she was wearing, and the fabric pulled against her to reveal the tiny beginnings of a bump at Miranda's waistline.

"You're showing!"

Still facing the mirror, Miranda looked up and smiled widely at Andrea's reflection, her eyes flashing joyfully as she heard the younger woman's intake of breath and saw Andy approach her, coming closer until her hands covered Miranda's and then dove beneath the slippery fabric, pushing it up so that she could see the faint swell for herself. She ran her fingertips over the slightly stretched skin reverently as she knelt in front of the pregnant editor, before cradling the slight swelling and rising to her feet once more, capturing Miranda's lips in a kiss.

"I believe the term is 'popped'."

Miranda watched her lover fondly as Andrea's face threatened to split in half with her favourite smile and she chuckled lightly as they broke apart before her eyes dimmed again and her expression grew pensive and increasingly cold.

"Now you can't tell me there's nothing wrong," Andy pressed gently as she ducked her head slightly to get Miranda to meet her gaze. "I'm thrilled, Miranda, couldn't you tell?"

"Mmm, and if you're thrilled then I'm sure Page Six will be delirious once the rumours start to spread along with my hips. And St…and him," Andy noticed Miranda's frustration at being unable to control the slight quaver that had shook her voice ever so slightly as she began to mention Stephen's name.

"He'll find out once they do…and I'm afraid he'll," Miranda swallowed visibly before her expression hardened. "No, he won't have any reason to come within a mile of this child or this family. I'll have to have Arthur draw up some sort of custody papers."

At the first touch of Andy's lips to her throat Miranda jerked back in annoyance. "Andrea, this is not the time…"

"Yes," Andy stared her down firmly. "This is absolutely the time to affirm and celebrate life," her fingers grazed Miranda's still mostly flat stomach and began to undo the buttons. "Isn't that what this was all about?"

As her fingers moved upwards, Miranda shivered and the ice melted from her features. "A-Andrea,"

"Shh, no more talking unless it involves the words 'more' or 'darling' or heartfelt thanks to God for what I'm about to do to you."

Miranda just nodded now, her gaze hazy with desire that flared when Andrea led her back over to the bed until the back of her knees touched the mattress and engulfed her mind until no thoughts of him or other stress-inducing topics remained.

Andrea looked down at the woman beneath her on the bed, sated and gasping for air and knew that although this time she had been able to push the nightmares away for the moment, they would come nonetheless, and she knew that THIS, the stunning, ever so slightly swollen woman beneath her and her children were worth it.

"Just call me Sandman," Andy murmured, more to herself than anything. But by this time, Miranda had gained enough of her senses back to question her lover.

"What?"

Andy just smiled sweetly, still breathing heavily from her own magnificent release under Miranda's own typically and splendidly focused ministrations. "No more nightmares," she stated simply, not needing to say anymore.

They both knew that Andy would do whatever she had to do to protect Miranda, and the double meaning of her words referencing the decrease in the frequency of the nightmares that had made an insomniac of Miranda for the last decade or so.

They hadn't stopped completely, of course, but the feel of Andrea's arms around her at night seemed to be enough to reassure Miranda's unconsciousness that she was safe and all was well, and the shadowy spectres that haunted her dreams slunk back, forced away by the brilliance that Miranda would all but swear shone from Andrea whenever she was near.

But still she knew, with a lingering unease as she drifted off to sleep that night that the nightmares would come, and come for her in the daylight.

**Anyway, review and let me know if this is worth continuing on! There's still a ways to go for this story in my head (Miranda's not even into her second trimester yet), I just need to find a way to unjumble it all on paper into a plausible and understandable plot and dialogue. **

**Funnily enough, running over scenes in my head every night does not a novel type! So with that, gimme a yay, gimme a nay, gimme something!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Battle but not the War

**Hello lovelies! Here's the next chapter (obviously). I've started the next as well, when Mirandy lets Em and Nigel in on 'Mirandy' ;)  
I'm hoping to have that up before I have surgery on the 4th of Feb. So comment and motivate me!**

The Priestly household could let out at least a partial sigh of relief as Miranda hit the 12 week mark of her pregnancy. It had been – and admittedly still was, hellish to deal with an anxious Miranda. Saying that it was an emotion she did not do well was perhaps as gross an understatement as saying Valentino made pretty dresses. Add the continuance of morning, noon and night sickness and there was little Andy could do but hold Miranda as she slept and hold her as she heaved the all too meager contents of her stomach the mornings and evenings she was home. And despite the all-pervading nausea, there was a growing rack in the closet of clothes that were no longer able to keep their secret…or their buttons and zippers for that matter.

One morning as Miranda emerged from the closet in the third peplum detailed skirt that week she smoothed her hands over the sharply pleated flounce at her waist and resigned herself to the fact that this was about to become a trend, and for no other reason than Miranda Priestly, fashion and publishing icon was scared shitless of announcing she was pregnant.

Miranda finally lost the battle one evening when she actually fell asleep at the dinner table. Caroline and Cassidy just looked at each other knowingly as Andy sighed and motioned for them to take their dessert to their rooms as she started to clear the dishes. She knew the older woman would be mortified, but better embarrassed but hospitalized again.

"Miranda," Andy laid her hand on her dozing lover's forearm as she knelt on the floor beside the kitchen table. "Sweetheart," that did the trick and Miranda's eyes fluttered open blearily, blue orbs narrowed in annoyance at being woken until she realized where she was and they registered a flash of horror before Miranda schooled her expression back to its usual cool, blank slate.

"Andrea," she began, but Andy held up her hand.

"Nope, whatever it is you're going to say, save it Miranda." Her voice softened and she took the older woman's clasped hands between her own. "I love you, Miranda. More than anything…and I will always do what I think is best for you and this family, even if it means being banished to the guest room or the couch for a while. And if you can't accept that then we have a problem…because the one thing you cannot ask of me is for me to stop loving you or your children. So tell me now if that's going to be a problem, and" her voice shook here, "if it is, then I'll go, but regardless we or I or someone will be informing Emily and Nigel at the very least about the babies, and if there still is such a thing, us."

Miranda's eyes, which had iced over and begun to flash dangerously at the start of Andy's speech softened slightly at the corners as she looked down at the devastated expression on her Andrea's face as she spoke about leaving her, realizing now that what she felt for the young woman kneeling so sweetly at her feet went so very much further than simple lust, desire or even pleasure at companionship. She loved this woman, as she had never loved anything except her children.

She bit back a fond smile at Andrea's passionate argument and leaned back against her chair, feigning a look of indifference as she flicked her fingers as if in dismissal.

"Really Andrea, with your penchant for dramatics I'm beginning to think your creative skills would be more suited to the theatre than to journalism. I was just about to suggest the same thing."

Andrea rolled her eyes and huffed as she rose back to her feet and brushed off her knees. " .infuriating Miranda Priestly…and God help me but I love you."

Miranda then surprised the younger woman by pulling Andrea to her, kissing her fiercely before crushing her in a tight embrace. "I do love you, Andrea. Never doubt that…even when I am being 'me', never doubt that you are irrefutably and irreplaceably the love of my life."

Rubbing the trembling shoulders of the older woman soothingly, Andrea pressed her lips to the soft crown of silky white and rested her cheek against it.

After a moment, Miranda broke away, looking slightly ashamed of her outburst – but before she could begin to regret her actions, Andy changed the topic, knowing that bringing any more attention to the incredibly sweet, romantic speech would only embarrass Miranda and make her uncomfortable.

"So, tomorrow?"

"Yes, yes, inform loyal minions of devil's imminent spawning, enlist their aid and watch them flee." Miranda paused for a moment and looked thoughtful before opening her mouth once more. "You'll be there, naturally."

"Yes, Miranda."

"Cheeky girl."

It took a moment for Andy to realize what Miranda's previous statement had included, causing her brain to render moot the 'do not ask Miranda anything ever rule' that their newfound relationship hadn't completely managed to squash yet, and hurl it blindly into the abyss.

"D-d'you mean come out to them as a couple?"

"There's the smart, fat girl I hired, fired and fell in love with." Miranda had hardly gotten the words out when rosy lips caught her by surprise this time and effectively quelled any further snark.

Andy pulled away, leaving Miranda to catch her breath as Andy nuzzled the pale, white expanse of skin gloriously exposed by the wide collar of her blouse, pressing kisses up and down her neck and décolleté until their lips caught in a tender and final kiss.

"Mmm, alright. Bed now…" Andy declared, pulling the older woman out of her chair by the hand and leading her up the stairs. Miranda looked uncharacteristically apologetic as she turned Andrea to face her. "Ehm, darling I'm really not feeling very well… I don't think."

"To sleep, Miranda. I meant to sleep, there's nothing about an ill, exhausted pregnant woman that is conducive to romance for me."

Inwardly, Miranda wilted again as she followed Andy up the rest of the stairs, it was going to be an awfully long 7 months then... When they reached the bedroom however, Miranda had to marvel yet again at Andrea's seemingly limitless ability to read her mind as she caught her lightly around the waist, fingers slipping beneath and loosening the too tight waistband of the Balenciaga skirt and whispering, "But once you _are _feeling better, Miranda? There's not a thing that could stop me from ravishing my sexy, pregnant girlfriend."

"You are ridiculous," Miranda huffed lightly, but Andy didn't fail to notice the release of tension in her shoulders as she leaned into her. For all the self-assurance of the 'Dragon', Miranda Priestly the person, wife and mother was achingly vulnerable and doubtful of her worth in any capacity other than editor-in-chief, and it would be the work of a lifetime to convince her otherwise, especially considering how well her ex-husbands had worked to let her know how much of a failure they thought she was, Andy mused as she drifted to sleep that night, the object of her musings sleeping soundly beside her, an arm draped possessively over the brunette's torso. Yeah, it was worth it…

**xo, H.**


	10. Chapter 10: Shock Value

The next morning started as it usually did, with Miranda sweeping into the bathroom at 5 am to be violently ill and Andy following to offer what little comfort she could, except Andy didn't go back to bed after but got ready to go into the Runway and Elias Clarke offices with Miranda.

Crouched inelegantly by toilet, Miranda couldn't help but marvel at herself and at Andrea. When she had first been pregnant with the girls she had been horribly ill as well and the first few times she had been sick, Jeremy had awkwardly tried to help her, coming in to hold her hair back – it had been longer then. But it was horribly obvious that he was doing it out of a sense of duty, which in turn had caused her to snap at him and send him away when he did try to help; and more and more often he had pretended not to wake up with her or headed into the office early. A habit, she recalled, that had stopped once she was out of her first trimester and was insatiably horny all the time. It seemed that pregnancy idiosyncrasy was one he was more than happy to help out with. But the remarkable woman beside her on the tile floor was something else all together.

"Andrea, you really don't have to be here," Miranda groaned apologetically as she caught her breath and accepted the damp facecloth Andrea was holding out.

"I thought we'd already established that I wanted to be here last night."

"No, I meant her in the bathroom. I promise you I shan't die or collapse, it's simply inconvenient."

"Only Miranda Priestly would call being all but prostrate over the toilet bowl at all hours of the day merely 'inconvenient'. I'll remind you the doctor said that most women in your situation wouldn't even bother getting out of bed, and she wouldn't blame them for it.

"They're not editor-in-chief of Runway magazine…"

Andrea gently rubbed the tummy underneath her hand, "Feeling any better?"

"No."

"Done throwing up?"

"Yes…for now."

"Alright, I'm going to go grab your tea while you jump in the shower. Peppermint or ginger?"

"Peppermint, please."

By 6, Andrea was in the shower and Miranda was dressed and in her study going over the pages of The Book she had been too tired to go through the night before. When her eyes started to close again, she shook herself awake and went to go wake the girls.

Opening the door to their room, Miranda smiled at the sight of her sleeping babies. It really did seem as though it was only a little while ago she was holding the two of them in her arms, dancing around the nursery, terrified out of her mind at the thought these two little lives had been entrusted into her care. A hand moved down unconsciously to rest on her swollen waist as she leaned against the doorframe.

Brushing the riotous red curls off Caroline's forehead, Miranda pressed her lips to the lightly freckled skin before moving over to Cassidy's bed and rubbing her younger daughter's back as she sat down on the lilac bedspread.

"Good morning, my loves,"

Two sets of blue eyes met her own sleepily as they woke up, and Cassidy moved to bury her head underneath the pillow.

"Oh no you don't," Miranda chuckled knowingly as she leaned over and plucked the pillow out of her daughters grasp.

Cassidy however took advantage of this and quickly latched onto her mother's arm, cuddling it to her chest and lying back down so that Miranda had no choice but to lay down with her.

"No fair, Cass," Caroline protested as she clambered out of her own bed to join them, snuggling into Miranda's free side and effectively trapping her between them.

They all lay like that for a few minutes, Miranda's free hand stroking through Caroline's hair until a light knock signalled Andrea's arrival.

"Up and at'em sleepyheads. Oh! I didn't see the third sleepyhead," Andy teased, surprised at finding Miranda IN bed with the girls.

Miranda gave a weak attempt at a glare before giving up and stifling a snort as Andy curled up beside Caroline and whom Cassidy promptly latched onto with her other arm.

Twenty minutes later though, Miranda couldn't resist the clutches of reality as the clock downstairs chimed a quarter after seven. Disentangling herself from the heap of bodies on the bed, Miranda kissed the girls goodbye for the day.

"We won't be able to stay for breakfast this morning, Bobbsey's. Andrea and I have a meeting at work."

"What kind of meeting?" Cassidy cocked her head in a move so familiar that Andy couldn't hold back her laughter at the sight of the two mini-Miranda's staring up at her.

She shrugged as Miranda's gaze turned upon her as well, "However is this world going to survive FOUR dragonlets?"

The girls grinned at this. "Rawr!"

"Pray they take after you darling," Miranda answered Andy first. "Today, we're going to tell Emily and Uncle Nigel about the babies…and about Andrea and I."

"Ohh," both sets of blue eyes widened in comprehension but Caroline, ever the worrier of the pair was the first to speak.

"When are the press going to find out?" she asked in a small voice.

Miranda's heart twinged, not for the first time, as she thought about what her girls had to deal with having her as a mother. However, like every other time recently that Miranda required saving Andy stepped in with the answer.

"We're hoping to keep it quiet for a little longer just yet." Neither Miranda nor Andrea voiced that the reason behind that was that there was still a fairly high risk Miranda would miscarry, having only just passed the first trimester mark. The tests she would have performed at 16 weeks would tell them much more about the state and viability of the pregnancy.

"You're getting bigger," Cassidy offered, shrewdly eyeing her mother's midriff as Miranda rolled her eyes and smiled ruefully.

"Yes, Cassidy, but we're hoping the press isn't as intelligent as my two children. And given the amount of pranks played on reporters over the years, I have great faith that they haven't learned yet. Besides, they're unlikely to see me as you are, standing still in front of you and in bed."

"They better not be seeing you in bed, remember – I don't share." Andy muttered under her breath as she slid a possessive arm around Miranda's waist.

"Now off to the showers with you," Miranda goosed her daughters lightly and they ran to the bathroom, shrieking and giggling happily, completely forgetting their earlier concern over the reaction of Page Six.

Faced now with an empty room, Miranda sighed heavily and squeezed the hand Andrea had slipped into hers as they made their way downstairs.

As had been happening far too often lately, Miranda waved away the offer of breakfast with a grimace and Andy resolved to get a clear answer from Emily how much the older woman was actually eating at the office, knowing the answer would not be a great deal more than she managed at home. At least after today, she could let Emily know the importance of having a ready supply of light snacks around for Miranda without giving away their secret.

Just as they were heading out the door, Miranda thrust The Book at Andy and turned sharply to go back into the house. "Wait in the car, I'll be right there."

Miranda leaned her head against the cool glass of the bathroom mirror after a particularly vicious bout of dry heaving. "Miranda, what are you doing? Talking to yourself apparently, and answering, even better, ugh."

She emerged a few minutes later looking as perfect and icily composed as ever, or would to anyone except Andy. She could see the greyish tinge to Miranda's face, and a cool palm against the woman's forehead told her everything else as she felt the familiar sheen of sickly sweat that always preceded and followed the worse episodes of nausea.

"Not a word," Miranda spoke through clenched teeth as though she were still trying to keep from being sick as the car made its way towards the Elias Clarke offices. Andy however, didn't skip a beat and merely offered her a chilled Pellegrino from the cooler she'd told Roy to keep under his seat. Miranda winced as the water hit her roiling stomach, but managed to keep it down, which was good because they were pulling up to the glass monolith that housed her empire.

Fifty floors up, a frantic Emily was all but pawing at Nigel and demanding the details of everything he had done personally or professionally in the last 72 hours that would be cause for Miranda to call an early morning meeting.

The older man removed his Gucci framed moire glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose tightly to ward off the tension headache he was developing courtesy of the shrill tones of the redheaded creature in front of him gesticulating wildly.

"Emily…Emily! I swear, I have done nothing out of the ordinary recently."

"Well maybe that's the problem then!" Emily threw up her hands and continued her nervous pacing in front of the desk on which Nigel was exasperatedly perched. "Maybe she's bored of you, maybe the entire arts department is going under the knife!"

"So help me, Emily if you do not shut that mouth you boast to so effectively control in regards to food I will personally seek and destroy every cube of cheese in a ten block radius. Besides, why would you be here if it's me she's firing?"

"For an audience? For a threat? For sheer perverse amusement? Much as I try, Nigel, I can not read her mind. I'm not Andy bloody Sachs!" she added under her breath.

"Mmm, and therein lies the problem I believe."

"What?" The redhead's tones cooled to those worthy of the woman they were discussing and she whirled to face the man on her desk who could not have said what she thought he just said. Perhaps it was time for a cube of cheese. She was obviously hallucinating…

"Andy…" Nigel continued. "You know she was with Miranda after the assault and was staying at the townhouse to help out."

"And what, you think Miranda has killed her and is going to present us with a dead body in a Louis Vuitton weekender bag which she will then expect us to dispose of? I can't think why she wants her around anyway. She's Miranda fucking Priestly, she doesn't need help. She has a housekeeper and Roy and…and she has me!"

Knowing that nothing would convince Emily other than a two by four to the head, Nigel just sighed once more and let the topic die. They'd find out soon enough, he reasoned, seeing Emily's cell phone light up with a text from Roy and tuning out the continued ranting of Miranda's first assistant which he had cause to believe would soon only be audible to the canine race. The entire canine population of Manhattan if the decibel level of the vitriol she was spewing was any indication.

"Decaf, for the last month, decaf!" Emily sniffed at the incoming text. Forwarding threats to the current second assistant, Emily thought of something she hadn't before and her eyes grew wide and fearful.

"What if something is wrong?"

"I thought we'd already established that this was likely not good news," Nigel commented drily.

"No, I mean with her. I mean, she's been drinking decaf for a month now and when she switched over she muttered something about not mixing caffeine with the medication she got from the hospital. What medication is she still taking a month after? And she's been so pale lately, Nigel, of course I've had to pretend not to notice…what if something really is wrong?"

Emily was too lost in her thoughts to notice her usual sounding board falling silent himself. Truth be told, Nigel had noticed the changes in Miranda as well, subtle as they were. At first he'd thought it was simply residual stress or trauma but recently they had been in several meetings with her where she had excused herself suddenly with the justification of a phone call she had to take. And when she'd returned, both times her face had been utterly colourless and she'd reached for her water glass with a hand that was barely but still perceptibly trembling.

Both however, snapped immediately to attention as the elevator's chime announced the arrival of their leader.

"Andrea?"

"Andy?"

Two mouths, one painted a glossy fuschia that clashed so horribly with her hair it was now considered 'in' and one tanned and gently stubbled dropped open as a second person stepped out of the elevator just behind Miranda.

Knowing there would be people watching through the glass walls of the outer office, Miranda merely dropped her coat and bag on the desk of the unfortunately now late second assistant and breezed into her office, letting her employee's names drop gently from her lips as Andrea, still carefully schooling her face blank, followed.

"Have a seat," Miranda instructed the dumbstruck pair as she took her own.

It was a good thing they were conditioned to obey as what happened next would certainly have brought them to their knees were they still standing when it happened. Andy perched on the side of Miranda's desk and the older woman reached over for her hand, entwining their fingers together which Andy then brought to her lips tenderly with a wistful, sad sort of smile.

Miranda pressed a delicate hand to her stomach, wincing slightly as her face paled to a frightening shade of greyish green and she swallowed, Andrea noticed, with a great deal of difficulty.

"You're not feeling good at all, are you sweetheart," Andy wrapped her arms around her and pressed her lips to the side of her forehead.

"Miranda?" Nigel was the first of the two to speak, Emily was still wide eyed and silent, hands clutching the sides of her chair so tightly it looked as though one or other would soon break under the pressure.

"I've called you both in here this morning to discuss a personal matter with you. I know I don't have to remind you of the discretion you will both need to use should you continue working here after you hear what I have to say."

Andy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "What Miranda means," at this a particularly icy glare was sent her way from the woman in question, "is that we trust you with this, and we need your help."

"I knew it," Emily whispered, "I knew something was wrong. My God, how serious is it?"

Miranda rolled her eyes, although watching her out of the corner of her eye, Andrea knew she was secretly pleased that the younger woman was so concerned about her.

"As you know," Miranda continued, "Stephen and I are legally separated and the divorce should be finalized by the end of the year." Andrea felt her hand squeezed when Miranda mentioned the man's name and she squeezed back, running her thumb soothingly over the other woman's hand before taking over.

"We were also told that the police were unable to charge Stephen for the assault because he had left the scene, and any fingerprints or other evidence not directly tied to the attack wouldn't hold up in court because he had lived in the townhouse until several months earlier. A private security firm we've contracted has told us that Stephen is currently in the Bahamas on business and will return at the end of the month."

"Do you think he'd come after you again?" Nigel jumped in, concerned. For all his flamboyance, he had no problem getting his hands dirty with the slime of any creature foul enough to use his hands on a woman, especially if that woman was Miranda Priestly.

"As much as I despise the man he's smart enough not to get caught if he's sober, and I'm, I'm afraid of what he'll do once word gets out that I'm pregnant."

"Pr-pregnant?"

**Notice how quick the update was this time? AND it's more than 2X longer than the last. My muse has a remarkable amount of energy when I (and you) remember to feed her :) So leave me some love! **


	11. Chapter 11: It Tolls for Thee

"Pr-pregnant? You're pregnant? You're pregnant…right." Emily stood and started her nervous pacing again as she talked, her mind flashing through everything those two little words would mean, both for Miranda and her in the coming months."

"With twins,"

And Emily was down…Not unconscious, but she had suddenly felt unequal to the task of remaining upright any longer and she had sort of staggered and went down.

Nigel had yet to say anything, uncharacteristic for the man, and instead he rose silently and walked around Miranda's desk, pulling her up gently from the seat with a hand before folding her into his arms.

Tucking her head into the broad chest of her employee and best friend, Miranda sighed and accepted the unfamiliarly familiar gesture, taking strength in the warmth of her friend's embrace and feeling uncharacteristically loved. If her girls and their father, her first ex-husband were in the room, Miranda would have everyone she cared about all together.

"Congratulations Miranda," Nigel said softly, "on all the new additions to your family." His gaze flickered over to Andy as well who beamed up at him before her gaze focused again on the woman in his arms like she was the sun and centre of the universe, which of course she was.

"But Nigel, do you realize what this means?" Miranda's eyes were bright with tears she stubbornly refused to let fall and her voice caught huskily.

"We'll get through it, Miranda," he found himself in the uncommon capacity of reassuring the publishing icon. "What is family for if not for pulling you along, kicking and screaming through hard times? Besides, I know you Priestly. You can't tell me you don't want these children, remember that I knew you when you were pregnant with the first set of twins. And despite the moaning and griping and complaining that went on behind closed doors, you loved those girls from the moment you knew they were in your belly. They melted you from the inside out, and until Andy, they are what stopped your heart from freezing in the interim. They may not have been planned, they may not be coming at the best time, but you want them so badly that you're willing to come here now and tell us all of this to keep them and your family safe."

Emily had managed to collect herself during Nigel's speech and in the wake of Miranda's tangible rising panic had managed to find her calm and she stepped up to the art director's side and addressed her.

"Whatever it is that I can do, I will, Miranda, for any member of your family," Andrea knew just what it had cost the cool Brit to give even that small burst of emotion and she caught the redhead's eye and mouthed her thanks to which Emily nodded, giving a small smile of her own before clearing her throat and briskly flipping to a new page in her Lacroix printed notebook.

"Thank you, my friends." Miranda smiled, almost shyly, before disappearing into the bathroom to freshen up. "So that Andrea will have a chance to thoroughly overburden you with what she feels is pertinent information and instructions," she added over her shoulder.

Once the door had clicked closed, Emily rounded on Andrea and Nigel swatted her on the shoulder. "Six? Do you know what you're doing? Are you sure about this?"

"More than my own life, Nigel, I swear to you. It nearly killed me the first time I thought there was no hope for us, I'll be dead or damned before anything separates us again."

"I suppose now is as good a time as any to squash my admittedly long time infatuation, especially as I'd never allow myself to be a size four despite that being Miranda's new obvious preferences. But I will say this," Emily punctuated her next words with the blunt tip of her pen poking Andy's chest. "You better take care of her, or I will personally hunt you down if I have to ransack the receipt drawers of every greasy Thai takeout restaurant in New York!"

"Killing me with kindness here Em. But to the point, she will never admit to it, not even to me, but she needs taking care of right now. She's strong enough to do it on her own, but not with Stephen looming over her head, and not without nearly killing herself to do it."

She glanced over at the closed bathroom door and chose to make her next speech quick and to the point so that she could get to Miranda, if she was right about what was happening behind the closed door.

"Em, I'll be sending you a list of foods that do not make her nauseous at the moment, a list which is extraordinarily small. There's no way she can eat anything before she gets into the office at this point, hopefully that will change now that she's just past the 12 week mark. Make sure there is a separate cooler bag in the fridge with containers of fruit and cheese and crackers that she can snack on throughout the day, and if by some miracle she starts craving something and actually brings herself to ask you to get it, please do. She's not taking in nearly enough calories. Also, fairly soon we'll need to start quietly gathering samples from the designer's maternity lines. All being well, we're hoping to make an official announcement regarding the pregnancy after her four month appointment where we'll know much more about her and the babies' health. I don't know the new second assistant so keep her occupied away from anything that might make her suspicious. And Nige, when I can't be here, I need you to come and check on her, which she will hate, and I'm sorry in advance. Despite her reluctance to say it, she loves both of you but Nigel, you are her best friend and she will need someone by her side at meetings and during conferences with Irv to cover for her until this is made public."

A muffled cough from behind the bathroom door elicited a sigh from Andy as she knew her love was being ill again.

Nigel followed her eyes to the closed door and nodded once, decisively. "Go. We'll meet for drinks later this week and you'll have no excuse for not giving us the scoop oh-sneaky-journalist…Come on Emily, you're still looking a little pale, let's find you some cheese."

Andy closed the office door behind them, ignoring the curious stare of the new second as she stepped through the elevator doors with a decaf latte that was, Andy knew by how long she'd been gone, far too cold to be acceptable. Not that it would be anyway with the state Miranda was in this morning.

She pushed the white wood and glass paned door to the private bathroom open and her heart ached as she saw Miranda doubled over the porcelain bowl for the fifth time that morning.

Miranda made a small whimpering sound as her roiling stomach offered her a momentary respite from the vicious ejection of its contents. Andy grabbed a few tissues from the box by the sink and dampened them slightly before folding them into a makeshift cool compress that she held to her ex-boss and lover's feverish forehead. "Shh, I'm sorry, I'm here now, you're okay," she soothed, knowing how upset and scared Miranda got whenever she was sick to her stomach.

After another seemingly endless bout of dry heaving, there really was nothing left to come up after the events of that morning, Miranda palmed the sweating porcelain and forced herself to her feet, looking at Andy so pitifully that Andy gently pulled the woman to her, rubbing her back in wide circles as Miranda allowed herself a moment of weakness in her lover's arms.

"My love," Andrea's voice broke into her thoughts. "I think we need to call Dr. Jansen. No, this isn't normal Miranda," she played her trump card as she felt the older woman stiffen slightly. "With all this vomiting, the babies can't be getting enough nutrients, and you certainly aren't." Her hand found the small swelling hidden by the peplum detail of Miranda's skirt and she let her palm curve around it.

"Can I phone and ask her to come over for a house call?" Normal obstetricians would never do this of course, but Dr. Jansen had long catered to the wealthy mommy elite of Manhattan; and in Miranda's case, understood the importance of discretion as well as the increased level of care her patient would need nearing fifty and pregnant with twins.

"A house call is acceptable," Miranda relented, fondly cupping the younger woman's cheek before allowing the ice and steel back into her face as she prepared to leave.

"Have Roy at the front doors in two minutes," her frigid tone didn't have its regular effect as her throat was sore and raspy from the wash of acid and bile, coming out more husky and weak than the clear and sharp tones she had tried to command as she barked at one of the new 'Emilys'. "I'll be working from home the rest of the day. That's all."

Glancing at the coffee, Miranda decided that it was vitally important now that her reputation as Ice Queen remain intact and really, the silly girl couldn't possibly think the drink she was offering was anywhere close to the realm of 'acceptable' and so reached out and easily dumped the entire thing into the wastebasket beside the girl's desk.

"I believe there is a certain kind of neural damage that precludes one from being able to judge temperature from simply touching the object. I suggest you take yourself to a GP before you lose more than just your job."

With slightly more spring in her step, Miranda stalked into the waiting elevator to join Andrea, who merely suppressed her smile until the doors were closed.

"Feel better now?"

"Quite."

Andy smirked once they were in the car on their way back to the townhouse , "My ferocious dragon lady…I should have warned her, I knew when I heard her come in it would already be cold."

Miranda gave a quick, tight smile in response, and Andy wondered a moment what she'd done wrong until she noticed a telltale hand slip beneath Miranda's suit jacket to rest on her belly and she scooted closer to her; not saying anything, knowing Miranda wouldn't want to listen to her chatter, just sat close enough so that the woman beside her could unobtrusively rest her head against Andy's shoulder for the ride home.

"I'm scared, Andrea," Miranda whispered; so quietly Andy wasn't sure she was even supposed to have heard it. Miranda didn't meet her eyes but kept her gaze determinedly focused out the window, affecting an air of nonchalance.

"And not of what Stephen could do to me, but what he could do that would hurt my children. He's a lawyer, and a successful one, if he petitions for custody and gets report of the assault thrown out…And even if by some miracle he never comes near us again," Miranda paused and Andy could see her fingers tighten over her abdomen. "I don't know that I can keep them safe even in my belly," this last part she spoke so quietly Andy had to strain to hear the dying whisper on her lips.

"I'm so tired, Andrea. I'm old and I'm tired and I've been so ill…it will be a miracle if they're born healthy or born at all."

Even though her head was turned towards the window, at this last sentence Andy could see the first tear fall, followed by a second and a third in quick succession.

"It'll be okay, Miranda."

"Don't say that! How can you know that, how can you promise me that and not break your word?" Miranda huffed, moving away from the younger woman angrily.

"Because between myself, the girls and Nigel and Emily, we're not going to let anything happen to you or these babies. I know you have never wanted or needed to in the past, and for all I know you may not even need it now. But you have people who love you, unconditionally, Ice Queen or no you are ours. And when you need to, you can lean on us. I won't let you fall to save my own life, Miranda, you know that. Nothing is more important to me than you and the girls.

"What I would do without you, Andrea…I can't bear to think -"

"And you don't have to, because there's never going to be a time where I would ever leave you, alright?" Andy's hand covered Miranda's where it rested on the swell. "Now no more worrying, not today. If you worry too much you'll give the babies wrinkles…"

"You are ridiculous," Miranda sniffed with a teary smile.

"Isn't that why you keep me around?"

"Mmm, that and I find your breasts particularly alluring," Miranda teased back, letting her eyes close as she snuggled, yes Miranda Priestly snuggled, into the shoulder of the woman she loved for the rest of the trip home through rush hour traffic.

"Alright, now go change into something _comfortable_," Andrea stressed the last word once they were home, "Dr. Jansen said she would be here within the hour."

Miranda refused to have the doctor see her in bed and so Andy made up the couch in the study on the main floor.

"Will you at least have a nap until the doctor gets here?"

"A nap…Honestly, Andrea, I haven't had a nap since the first week I was home with the girls, and that was after being kept in the hospital for several days after complications during delivery."

"Complications? You've never said anything about that."

"Dr. Jansen has forwarded copies of the medical records, both of ones done in hospital and the investigation I had done afterwards."

Andrea was silent and scooted farther down the couch so that Miranda was laying down as she talked, fiddling nervously with the fringed hem of the afghan.

"It started off as what I suppose you would call an easy labour, though I assure you it didn't feel that way at the time. I was alone in the house except for Gina, how pathetic is that? My housekeeper was the one to call for my driver to take me to the hospital and take my overnight bag to the car instead of my husband.

Once I was at the hospital, my blood pressure just kept rising and rising and there were so many doctors coming in and out. Eventually the doctors said that my blood pressure had cut off some of the oxygen to the placenta and the babies were in distress and ALL I could think about was how I was failing at the most important thing in my life.

The one thing that no one else but me could do, the one job a mother has and I told myself that I was failing it before my beautiful girls were even out of my belly.

I overheard them talking about prepping me for an emergency c-section and I started to push…I later found out that I hadn't been fully dilated at the time and that that had accounted for the tearing and blood loss that followed.

I didn't care though, Andrea, all I cared about was getting my babies out safely, so I pushed.

I blacked out from the pain, and when I'd woken up again Caroline was halfway out and one of the doctors had his hand inside me while the nurses held my legs apart. It was so awful…there was so much blood and Greg was frozen across the room with this, horrified look on his face like I was some monster who needed to be sedated. He didn't understand, Andrea…These were my babies.

I couldn't even hold my first baby girl when she was out, they whisked her away to give her oxygen because her skin was tinged blue. The doctor told me to rest then but I couldn't. If Caroline hadn't been getting enough oxygen, who knew what state my other baby was in?

I kept pushing even between contractions, the nurses kept yelling at me to stop, and I saw one of them go near the IV with a needle so I pushed her away. Why couldn't they understand? I didn't need to be sedated, I needed to know my girls were safe.

Less than a minute after Caro was born, Cassidy started to emerge. Her hand was up by her head in a difficult position, it was so little Andrea. I could see the reflection in the doctor's glasses, just this little hand and I wanted so badly to reach down and touch that tiny little hand and help to pull her out, but the nurses yelled at Greg to come and hold my hands so I couldn't, like they thought it would comfort me to have him hold my hand.

But all I could think about was that tiny hand between my legs so pushed Greg's hand away along with the nurses and grabbed the back of my knees so I could push better.

All I could see and feel was flashes of crimson and the pain coursing through me, and then it was over and she was out. My sweet Cassidy was out, screaming beautifully and waving both precious little hands in her fury. But they took her away too."

Miranda's tears continued to fall and her shoulders shook, remembering the fear and the pain and the confusion of her daughters' births. "It was an hour before they let me hold them. And I could hear them as they cleaned up the room and changed the sheets. They all thought I was psychotic and had post-partum depression. After all, what kind of woman pushed her husband away, refusing to hold his hand or talk to him for the entire birth? No sane woman, or one with a heart, they said. It didn't take long for the rumours to start that I'd put the babies in danger by delivering naturally just so that I wouldn't have a scar from the C-section. When I was released I took my medical report of the birth to the best obstetricians and, and they said what I had known to be true at the time. That the babies needed to be born as quickly as possible…

But the damage had already been done, I was vilified as a woman who would endanger the lives of my children for the sake of vanity. Don't they know I would have endured a hundred scars or surgeries for my girls? I nearly ruptured my uterus and the doctors said I couldn't carry another pregnancy to term. And if I do at my age the risks for terminal birth defects and Down Syndrome is one in twelve. People think I don't care because I don't talk about it but that doesn't mean I haven't read every conclusive piece of literature I could get my hands on."

Andrea gathered the trembling woman even closer in her arms. "That's why I wished it away when I found out…It's so unfair, that I won't be able to keep them."

"Of course you will. Of course we will. Don't you dare underestimate my Miranda, and don't you dare underestimate me. You know in my old circles _I _was considered the stubborn one. And Dr. Jansen's gonna be here soon to check on you and the babies. And in a few weeks we're going to have some more tests done that will tell us more these two troublemakers," Andy's hand found Miranda's belly and rubbed soothing circles as she talked.

"Honestly, I've never in my life cried so much as I have with you," the tone was accusatory but Andy could sense no real venom behind the words, just embarrassment and fatigue.

The bell rang then, and Andrea left Miranda to freshen up her hair and makeup as she went to answer the front door.

Fixing the tear-marred lines in her makeup, Miranda leaned heavily on the table in front of the hallway mirror, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls," she murmured grimly before restoring the armour to her features and greeting the reaper, or guest rather, at her door.

**Tell me what you think - are you liking it so far? Or not? How am I doing? Seriously, love me some feedback here. Review!**


	12. Chapter 12: Unwelcome News

**I apologize for the delay in updates! I had surgery last week and then there were complications with internal bleeding so I've been slightly preoccupied. Now review so I can get some more writing done in the weeks of sedentary couch life I have before me so I don't die of boredom!**

"Doctor Jansen, thank you for coming."

"Not a problem, Andy, I was on my way back to the office from a delivery; 6 lbs. 8 oz. of screaming baby girl."

Despite herself, Miranda smiled at this before gesturing down the hall towards the study. "I'm sure you're busy, doctor, so if you could reassure Andrea that I'm fine you'll be free to attend to patients in more dire straits than I."

The doctor raised an eyebrow as she followed the silver-haired woman down the hall, feeling distinctly as though she were being led deeper into a trap of sorts. "I'll be the judge of that. Andy mentioned the morning sickness hasn't eased up since you started your second trimester last week. How many times have you thrown up so far this morning?"

"Four," Andy answered for her.

"Five," Miranda corrected, a slightly sheepish expression crossing her features as she sat on the couch next to Andrea. "I didn't mention I had been ill while you were in the shower," she admitted.

"And then there was right before we left the house."

Of course she had noticed that, Miranda thought to herself fondly, though not without a little unease at just how easily the young woman could read her.

"With your weight being what it is, that frequency and intensity of morning sickness isn't something we can let continue with no consequences. If you're throwing up more than six times a day you'll need to come into the hospital for an IV drip so we can make sure you're getting enough vitamins and nutrients for proper growth of the fetuses and we may need to admit you for Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Try eating a cracker or some form of carbohydrate before you get out of bed in the mornings and if by mid-morning you're still not feeling up to solid foods I want you to be drinking smoothies to keep up your sugar levels and get some calcium and vitamin C and B into you. If you'll lie back, Miranda, I'll feel for fetal growth and uterine position."

Miranda didn't look especially happy about this but complied out of concern for the babies. The doctor's hands were cool as they pressed on different parts of her abdomen, measuring growth from her pubic bone to just beneath her navel and both women watched the doctor, wondering what and how she could feel what she did and assess from that simple palpation.

Once the doctor was done, she took out her blackberry and entered the findings of the examination into her patient log, giving Miranda the privacy to sit up and rearrange her clothing before they continued their conversation and she unrolled the blood pressure cuff to wrap around Miranda's arm.

"Okay, so uterine growth is tracking on the low side of normal range for fraternal twins, but you are petite yourself and they're still within an acceptable range for their gestational age. Women over the age of 35 do also have a greater percentage of babies with low birth weight so unless growth drops from that range it's safe to assume all is going and growing well. Given that you're small, Miranda, you'll probably start to feel round ligament pain soon from the stretching your body is going to have to do to accommodate these babies. Some pain is normal, but if it's severe or you feel it's more of a cramping feeling, call the office immediately or go to the emergency room."

Miranda nodded, thinking to herself how tight and full her lower abdomen had been feeling for the last week and knew it wouldn't be long until the muscles stretched enough to form a more noticeable rounded bulge. This was also why she craved Andrea's touch, it was foolishness she knew, but she secretly swore she could feel her blood pressure dropping with the younger woman's gentle massage of her belly whenever she felt ill or upset. And it came so naturally to the girl to be so unapologetically and genuinely affectionate.

The doctor paused here to scrutinize the gauge on the BP cuff and pursed her lips, not knowing how closely she was emulating the woman in front of her. "Okay, blood pressure's a little high for my liking. This could be simply from the stress of vomiting or it could be an indication we need to watch out for pregnancy-induced hypertension which is also a concern with AMA."

"AMA?" Andy wrinkled her brow in confusion at the unfamiliar term.

"Mm, yes. It stands for Advanced Maternal Age."

Miranda's nostrils flared dangerously at this, and it was only the constriction of the cuff around her arm that brought her ire down, reminding her that especially now, stress really _could_ harm the babies.

"The second trimester normally brings on mild hypotension in women as well, that's a lowering of blood pressure that can cause dizziness and fainting so watch out for that, especially if you're not eating regularly to keep your sugar levels up."

Doctor Jansen ripped a sheet off of the pad she was writing on and handed it to Andy as she stood. "Here's a prescription for a mild anti-nauseant, I'm hopeful it will at least allow her to keep some food down even if it doesn't cure the nausea completely."

"Thank you again for coming on such short notice," Andy said as she showed the doctor out. "We'll see you in a couple of weeks for the 4 month appointment."

"My personal cell is also on the sheet, please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns in the meantime." She paused. "I won't lie to you, Andy…this is a dangerous situation. But if anyone can pull through it it's the woman in there."

"Thank you."

Andy made a show of stretching as she walked back into the study. "So, pretty lady. Did you want to lie down with me for a while?"

"Andrea, you can't believe that I don't for one second know what you're doing."

"Mmm, nope I'm beat. Besides, resting for a little while holding my beautiful girlfriend in my arms doesn't seem like a bad idea to me,"

"Alright then," Miranda huffed, turning her head into Andy's shoulder so that she couldn't see the reluctant smile at her lips.

Unwittingly, Miranda confirmed Andy and Dr. Jansen's suspicions of just how ragged she was running herself as she slept for the next three hours.

She had drifted off so quickly that Andy hadn't had a chance to switch sides. And she was sleeping so soundly and sweetly in Andy's arms that the younger woman couldn't bring herself to move from the study's sofa, even as she was finding herself increasingly aware of the numbness in her right arm and her screaming bladder.

Finally, just as Andy was giving up on wracking her brains for a way to move without waking Miranda, blue eyes opened and blinked at her sleepily.

This woman really was too adorable for her own good, Andy thought fondly to herself as she pressed a kiss to the snowy crown.

"And what would you be smiling at?"

Andy answered candidly, "Just thinking of your reaction if I told you just how cute you are."

"Really, Andrea, cute?" the sarcastic murmur held a tone of love, however, that permanently fixed the smile to Andy's face.

"Are you hungry?"

"I could make you a smoothie. I texted Cara to pick up organic Greek yogurt and fresh fruit while she was at the market today."

"Hm, acceptable," Miranda inclined a regal silver head as she settled herself behind her desk.

"What did you want in it?" Andy called out from the kitchen as she pulled out the blender from the cupboard beside the oven.

"Surprise me."

After a few moments though, Andy had to double over to contain her laughter, as a voice floated out of the study.

"Raspberries."

Adding freshly squeezed orange juice to the protein and calcium rich yogurt mixture, Andy grabbed a handful of raspberries and threw them in as well; minutes later going back into the study and placing the mango-peach-raspberry concoction in front of Miranda who eyed it with interest albeit slightly warily, as she wondered in the privacy of her own mind if it would make a reoccurrence shortly after consumption.

Out of the corner of her eye, Miranda was distracted by Andrea's constant fidgeting on the couch across from her desk, especially seeing as it was unlike the younger woman to do so.

"You're being ridiculous," Andy muttered to herself, forcing her attention back to the article on her laptop screen rather than the woman at the desk. This is stupid, Andy, focus on the damn article. Finally it became apparent that neither woman was going to get any work done and Andy slammed the lid of her computer down before stalking over determinedly to Miranda's desk and leaning over the back of her chair.

Long, lanky arms wrapped around Miranda's shoulders and the editor turned to arch an eyebrow at her younger lover.

"I'm sorry," Andrea murmured into Miranda's neck. "I just hate that the last person who touched you wasn't me or the girls. It's stupid, and childish, I know, I just ugh…I just don't like the idea of other people touching you, but that's my problem to deal with, I know. I…"

The younger woman's blathering was stopped as Miranda patted the arms wrapped around her reassuringly.

Andy's hand slipped beneath the chocolate brown silk Donna Karan palazzo pants to palm the getting not-so-slight curve of her waist. "I have no right to be so possessive, of course the doctor and even other people will need to touch you, I…"

"Andrea." Miranda's voice once again stopped Andy's babbling and she opened her eyes that had closed involuntarily at the pleasure of having Andrea's hands against her bare skin. "You have every right. It's the same right that allows me to despise Christian Thompson even if he hadn't conspired against me with Jacqueline for the simple reason that he touched you, and didn't understand the privilege gifted to him."

"I think it's a good thing I'm not your assistant anymore," Andy smiled as she straightened up again. "We'd never get any work done...On the other hand I can't watch you all the time so maybe not."

"Mmm, a double bonus then," Miranda teased, chuckling to herself as Andy stuck out her tongue.

"We're home!" Twin voices rang out from the hallway as the girls burst through the front door. "Andy?"

"We're in here, guys" Andy called out.

"We?"

"Mommy!"

Miranda's heart gave a painful twinge as she heard the excitement in her girls' voices at having their mother home when they returned from school. For all the privileges they had as her children, they were deprived of the simple little things that had the power to make the biggest difference.

"Mmm, hello my darlings,"

"Why are you home so early, mom?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Bobbseys, mommy's fine. The doctor was here today and so far everything is fine with the babies."

"When are we going to find out if they're girls or boys?"

"Or both," Caroline added to her sister's comment. "I read that fraternal twins can be one of each."

"Twenty weeks is usually when they reveal the gender, but we may find out at sixteen because of some extra tests your mom may have done." Andy explained.

Miranda's brow creased slightly though she remained silent at Andy's comment. They had discussed the tests that could be done before briefly, but hadn't been able to decide one way or the other. In the case of amniocentesis testing there was a .06-.86 % chance of procedure related miscarriage, and Chronic Villus Sampling, or CVS, was even higher at 1 in 100. At Miranda's age, the pregnancy was riskier, and therefore the tests were more common as a result, to detect any abnormalities. However, because the risk of miscarriage was already increased with age as a factor, the stakes were even higher.

As the girls chattered about their day, Miranda's cell rang, and glancing down at the number the editor suppressed a shiver, forcing a smile back on her face as she turned back to her daughters. The slight tremble of Miranda's shoulders, however, was not missed by Andy and she instinctively moved closer, a hand on each of the girls' shoulders.

"Yes?" Miranda spoke sharply into her blackberry, visibly tensing as she did.

As the caller on the other end spoke, Miranda's face lost all colour almost instantly, and she reached out to steady herself on the edge of the gilt Louis XIV table she used as her desk.

As Miranda listened, she faintly registered a gentle warmth and pressure on her back as Andrea guided her to sit back in the chair she had just vacated.

"Has he given any indication as to why he's cutting the trip short?" Miranda's hand found its way to her belly, cradling it with fierce protectiveness as if reassuring herself they were still there and still hers.

Now Andy knew exactly who Miranda was speaking to, and there was only one 'he' whose mention would elicit the uncommon reaction from the woman.

At Andy's gasp the twins heads swivelled around in eerie tandem.

"What, what's the matter?"

"Girls, why don't you go find a movie for us to watch before dinner?"

Tempted by the rare treat, Caroline and Cassidy still stood protectively by their mother, eyes going back and forth between the two women who had always protected them in the past, confused at seeing fear in their eyes and in their voices.

"What's wrong with mom?"

"Go," Miranda's voice came out in a whisper, but the emotion behind it was forceful enough to send them scurrying out.

Kneeling next to the chair, Andy prised Miranda's hand from off of her stomach where Andy was sure any there would be bruise or nail marks and rubbed it between her own, warding off the goose bumps she could see forming along the other woman's skin.

"Call me with any new developments," was the clipped response Miranda gave before ending the call and setting the phone down on her desk with forced calmness, not looking at Andrea for a long moment.

Only two words came from her lips, and they were breathed so softly Andy could barely hear them.

"He's back."

**Send me some love! I've been reading through page after page of New York Penal Law for some scenes later in the book and my muse needs some inspiration and creativity after being shut away in dusty libraries reading law books!**

**So review and let me know how you think the story is going, because it is going, I promise!**


	13. Chapter 13: Planning Parenthood

**Hello all! Sorry for the delays in updating - I'm in the midst of sorting out different things as I prepare to switch universities and majors, which is causing much shortage of sleep and no shortage of anxiety and nausea. As much as I may have a passion for it, the current economic and political environment means it's the wrong time to be pursuing a career as a teacher. So now I find myself, accepted as of this morning, into an Honors BA for a degree in Business and Communications instead of the Honors BA in English I'm currently enrolled in.**

Still kneeling by the older woman's feet, Andy lay her head in Miranda's lap, knowing she had to wait for the older woman to sort through her emotions before she would speak.

Miranda's hand stroked through the silky chestnut strands and she focused on breathing evenly, knowing if she threw up again Andrea would insist on taking her into the hospital.

Her eyes fluttered closed in relief as she felt Andrea's hand curve around her waist, thumb brushing carefully over her bloated waistline.

The low moan of relief turned to a single, choked sob as the soothing motion swept away any guards she had erected against her emotions. Instantly, Miranda found herself wrapped in Andrea's arms, clutching the younger woman's shoulders so tightly she feared she would leave bruises as she sobbed into the pale smooth neck, burying her face in the comforting warmth.

Andy led Miranda back over to the couch, sweetly stroking and petting over the distraught editor, and peppering her forehead and cheeks with kisses when Miranda finally raised her tearstained face to meet Andrea's.

"I don't know what to do," Miranda admitted softly. "I don't know that I have the strength to face Stephen and his lawyers, and Irv and the press. Part of me just wants to slip away in the night."

"That wouldn't make you happy in the long run Miranda…I know you love these babies, and you love the girls, and me…but you also need Runway, it's a part of you. And one day you may leave, but that day isn't today or tomorrow. And we're all here for you, and no one is going to think any less of you for asking or accepting help. If they know you, they'll know how much courage it took for you to ask at all."

"And besides," reaching with her free hand, Andy opened the laptop that had been left forgotten on the nearby ottoman. "You're not the only one with connections."

"I spoke with my Uncle John, he's a detective for the NYPD Special Victims Unit. Whoever the police were that took your statement, they neglected to mention a slew of charges we could have successfully filed against Stephen at the time.

Miranda's gaze, though blurry and tear-filled, scanned the open document on Andrea's computer with intensity usually reserved for The Book.

"Forcible touching and menacing in the second degree are the only two he said were all but sure to stick. The others, which include robbery in the first degree and assault in the second degree will depend on re-examination of the evidence by the defense AND prosecution if we decide to re-open the matter. If the first two go through, it will mean anywhere between 6 months to 4 years for two class A misdemeanours; the other two are B felonies, and if convicted Stephen will face 25 years."

"Why? Why didn't we know this before?"

"I'm sorry, Miranda. I didn't even think to question what the police said past the point of what you saw in the hospital."

"I'm not blaming you," Miranda's head whipped around to face Andy with growing concern. "Please don't think that, darling."

Andy kissed the uneven ridge of Miranda's nose to let her know all was forgiven before answering the very next question Miranda had been about to ask.

"As for what's next, we'll need to give our statements again and have copies of the hospital medical records sent over to my uncle's precinct. I've already taken the liberty of contacting Arthur Millen," Andy named Miranda's lawyer. "I should have done that the moment we got to the hospital the night you were hurt…" Andy mentally berated herself, hating that if she'd actually gone through with her law degree that she might be of better help to Miranda. Of course she couldn't fully regret her decision, following her heart in one matter had led her to finding its other half in the silky-haired fashion editor snuggling into her side. Knowing that with the partial exception of the two redheads and the St. Bernard in the other room Andy was the only person and only one of Miranda's partners to have ever been allowed access to this side of the enigma that was Miranda Priestly.

Nope, Andy thought, as she walked with Miranda to the entertainment room to join the rest of what she was starting to think of as her family, at this moment, and despite what the future threatened to bring, Andy had no regrets.

"What's the matter with mom? Is she sick?"

"Is something wrong with the babies?"

"Nope, just a bad bellyache," Andy chirped absentmindedly as she rummaged around in the cupboard for the exact flavor of tea she knew Miranda would be wanting as soon as she felt well enough to put anything past her lips again.

"Oh my god, you are truly the cutest thing I've ever seen," Andy cooed teasingly as she re-entered the media room to see Miranda curled up on the couch, the fluffy comforter she had commandeered from the linen closet pulled up to her mouth as she peered up at Andy over it, pouting slightly.

"Hmmph, you were gone a long time."

"Twenty minutes, tops!" Andy insisted, setting the tray down on the low-slung side table as she crouched down in front of the couch to meet Miranda's accusing gaze.

"How's the tummy feeling?"

"Terrible," Miranda replied sulkily as she arched the offending part of her towards Andrea, all but begging to be touched. "It requires immediate attention."

Andrea just rolled her eyes and laughed as she less than gracefully clambered behind Miranda on the couch so that one hand could stroke through the woman's soft, white hair while the other exacted the 'required' ministrations on her belly.

It amused her how 'catlike' the pregnancy was making Miranda, though for all she knew, with the right person, Miranda's desire to be petted over was nothing new.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Caroline's nervous gaze flickered between her mother and the floor beside her where Cassidy had settled.

Miranda smiled gently, thinking not for the first time of just how different the girls were if you knew them at all. Caroline, her ever orderly 'mommy's helper' and a keen worrier; and Cassidy: free-spirited and a snuggler from the day she was born. The two girls, well on their way to becoming young women, sitting in a pile of blankets at the base of the couch were a million miles away from the two precious little squirmy bundles she had held, curled up on her chest – sweet little breaths puffing onto her skin in a rhythm that was very nearly in tandem.

"Mummy's stomach is just very upset, Bobbsey's." Miranda held her hand out towards her eldest, motioning her to join them before resting her own head on the softness of Andrea's chest, feeling the vibrations as Andy quirked up an eyebrow at the girls.

"Alright squirts, what are we watching?"

**Considering this somewhat creativity-stifling new change of plans (see above bolded blurb), I need my muse more than ever as she tries to escape me into the eshelons of conglomerates and corporations. I know I'll be good at it, I just hope that's enough. **

**So please try to tempt her back with reviews! I'd appreciate it and judging from the messages I get when I go too long between updates, some of you will too!**


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